The Life That Was Not Expected
by Melbones
Summary: Set just after Season 6 Ep 22, follows Booth & Brennan's journey as they create a life together and come to terms with Brennan's pregnancy and falling in love. Definitely B&B with a bit of Hodgela. Rated M just in case.
1. Chapter 1

The Life That Was Not Expected.

**Plotline:** Although it's been done before this is my take on the whole pregnancy arc from start to finish in greater detail than we saw on the screens. Begins just after Ep 6 22 after BB slept together.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bones or any of the characters. This is just for my own general entertainment and amusement.

**Chapter 1: Absence of Focus**

She found it very difficult to concentrate after that night. Her legendary focus was shot to pieces after one of the most important experiences of her life had occurred. She would find herself staring into space whilst examining a set of bones, or while writing a report her thoughts immediately turning to that night and the love they had made.

Staring unfocused at a set of bones was how Angela found her 3 days after Vincent's death. She knew that something had happened between Brennan and Booth the night Vincent died, and her best friend had been surprisingly vague about it. She had tried to coax more information out of Brennan when they'd talked about that night after Hodgins had interrupted them, but the Anthropologist just told her that they'd spent the night together and other than a smile that was all the information she'd gotten. She watched her friend for a few more minutes seeing that her concentration really wasn't on the bones in front of her and then decided to interrupt her.

"Bren you've been staring at those bones for an hour now, you trying to get them to talk to you?" She said almost laughing at the echo of the last conversation they'd had over a pile of bones.

"Sorry?" Brennan said still completely distracted.

"Sweetie what's going on, even I know you aren't really looking at those bones" Angela smirked taking in her friend's guarded face as she finally looked up at her.

"I- I'm distracted, I can't seem to focus" Brennan admitted and then looked down at the bones again not sure how much she should reveal to her best friend. Booth had always said that what was theirs was theirs, but she needed to speak to someone about this. The last three days had been some of the most amazing, but painful days of her life. She had spent every night since Vincent's death at Booth's and she knew she was ready to let him into her heart, but she needed to find a way to focus.

"Sweetie, love is distracting" Angela said knowingly watching as Brennan looked down at the bones and back up at her. She could see that her best friend was happy, but she was also confused and she knew that she needed to finally talk about what had happened, admit that what she was feeling was love and once she did that, she'd be able to focus a bit better.

"Is it always like this Ange? I need to find a way to focus or I'm going be of no use to anyone" Brennan said looking up at her friend and smiled sheepishly at the look her friend was giving her.

"No not always, but in the beginning yes, and it would be strange if it wasn't. Look Bren you need to talk about this, let it out and then you'll be able to focus better, I promise" Angela told her friend and watched Brennan's face, looking for any signs of retreat.

"You're right Ange – are you hungry maybe we should get something to eat and talk" Brennan said and almost laughed at the look Angela was giving her.

"Sweetie I'm eight months pregnant of course I'm hungry, lets go to the diner and talk" Angela said leading her friend out of the bone room and out of the lab before she had a chance to change her mind.

They spent the short walk to the diner in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts. They took the walk slowly to accommodate Angela's new gait, and it gave them both a good amount of time to sort their thoughts out. Angela linked her arms with Brennan's hoping the physical connection would help keep the anthropologist grounded as they made their way to the diner.

Once they were seated and had ordered their food, Angela took a moment to observe her friend and seeing that she seemed quite willing to talk decided to wait for her friend to start the conversation.

"You've probably guessed by now that Booth and I slept together the night of Vincent's death" Brennan said getting straight to the point in her usual abrupt manor. Despite her forthrightness she couldn't help but smile a little as a thought of that night crept into her mind.

"Well, yes although you were a little vague on the details honey" Angela told her friend taking in her smile and without being told knew that things had gone well.

"It was, incredible, I-I've never felt so close to a person before" Brennan said and her wistful expression was not lost on the artist.

"So the sex was good?" Angela said laughing at the expression on the anthropologist's face.

"It was more than sex Angela, Booth says that when people make love, they become one and while it is physically impossible for two people to occupy the same space in time, I now understand what he meant' Brennan told her friend, not breaking eye contact with the artist while she explained her thoughts. Whilst she was uncomfortable being this open with her friend, she knew she needed to get this out.

" I love him, I'm in love with him and I think my life is about to change completely" Brennan said, finally breaking eye contact with Angela as she contemplated what she had just admitted.

"Oh sweetie! You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that, to finally admit your feelings for Booth. This makes me so happy!" Angela told her friend, wanting to jump up and hug her, but unwilling to make a scene in case it startled her friend, and being this pregnant jumping was probably not a good idea.

"Thanks Ange, I-I should tell Booth, I mean I think he knows, but I should say it to him right?" Brennan asked still not knowing how to go about a relationship with Booth. They hadn't really talked about it, they'd had incredible sex, but they hadn't gotten around to talking about where they wanted this to go.

"Yes Sweetie, tell him and tell him soon, you have no idea how happy you'll make him if you are the first to say it" Ange said, proud that her best friend was not running away from an emotion that must surely terrify her.

"So, how are you doing?" Brennan asked her friend, changing the subject to a safer topic, she looked at her friend and realised just how pregnant she had started to look. She was very excited about the baby, although hadn't admitted it to anyone. Ange was going to be an amazing mum and she almost envied her, although she knew that she and Booth were nowhere near ready to discuss children.

"Oh you know, hungry all the time, I feel like a beached whale most of the time, but I can't wait to finally meet the baby" Ange told her friend, letting the subject change go. She knew the anthropologist well enough now to not push her to open up further than she was willing. She hadn't expected to get so much out of her friend and was happy that the changes that she'd seen early this year hadn't completely disappeared in the wake of the 'Hannah' fiasco.

She was about to continue when Brennan got a call and as soon as she answered it she knew they had another case. The bones left in the bone room would have to make room for a new set of remains.

"Ange I have to go, we've got a case. I'll tell the waitress to make my salad to go" Brennan told her friend as she got up and hugged her best friend.

" Thank you Ange" She said simply and then walked over to the counter to collect her lunch and head off back to the lab to wait for Booth.

BB...

"So Bones, how was your morning?" Booth asked as he watched her eating her salad in the SUV. He'd picked her up from the lab about five minutes after she arrived, so she'd had to eat in the car.

Brennan looked up from her salad at Booth, unsure of how to answer his question. Knowing they'd be at the crime scene in about half an hour she didn't think it was a good idea to go into too much detail.

"It was fairly normal, I looked at a limbo case, had lunch with Angela before you called about the case" Brennan answered keeping her tone neutral in the hopes that Booth wouldn't pick up on the tone of her lunch with Angela.

"Good to see you eating Bones" Booth said lightly, sensing there was more to Bones' lunch with Angela then she was saying, but deciding to leave it alone for now. They had a case and he didn't want to get into a deep and meaningful with her before they arrived. He knew they needed to focus, and he could tell she was struggling to do that.

They spent the next half an hour in a comfortable silence, neither of them wanting to start a conversation that might detract their focus from the case they were heading to.

When they arrived, Hodgins was already on the scene, tweasing bugs and other particulates from the body. He looked up as they arrived on the scene and smiled, noticing the closeness of the partners as they walked over to assess the scene.

"What have we got Hodgins?" Booth asked looking at the body and trying to keep his lunch inside his body. The decomposing body was emitting an odour that was making him want to dry heave. He quickly moved back a bit from the body and forced himself to look up at Hodgins waiting for an answer.

"I just got here, but from the looks of things the body was in a shallow grave and the recent rain we've had erroded the soil around the body and allowed it to surface" He told them bending down to start collecting more particulates and bugs from the body so he could help determine time of death.

"Judging from dentition and the mandible the victim is male, Caucasian, there seems to be some damage to the scapula and ulna, but there is too much flesh on the body for me to determine age here" Brennan said going into complete anthropologist mode upon seeing the body. She took in Booth's obvious discomfort at the state of the body and decided to do as much of her examination at the lab.

"Can you arrange transport for the body to the lab, I think I'll be able to determine more there" Brennan said to Booth gently, leading him away from the body. She was satisfied that no one was going to disturb the body and she knew Hodgins needed a bit more time to collect samples.

They got back in the SUV and headed back to the lab to wait for the body. She quietly lead him to her office, knowing she needed to have this conversation with him before her focus was taken by the body and the case. Once they were settled on her couch, her heart began to race a little as she contemplated what she was about to admit to him. She had never said these words to a man before and while she knew she couldn't hold it back any longer, a small part of her was still afraid to let him in that far. She finally looked up at him and sawing him watching her a smile on his face. It gave her the courage to do what she had always thought was unthinkable and step into the life she never expected she'd be living.

"Booth, these last few days, I want you to know they've been the happiest of my life, I know it's taken us an eternity to get here, but now that we are, I have to let you know, I-I love you, I'm in love with you and I don't think I could imagine a day when that will change" She said, unsure of herself, but she never broke eye contact with him. She watched his face trying to determine his reaction. She watched emotions she couldn't even name wash over his face until it settled into the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face.

"Oh Bones, you have no idea how happy that makes me! I know so many things have happened this year that could have torn us apart, but just knowing you were here, that you stayed and that you've admitted you love me, you've just made me the happiest guy on this planet, you have no idea how much I love you" Booth said, taking her hands and pressing a soft kiss on her lips. They sat there for what felt like hours just looking into each others eyes and trading soft kisses until her phone rang. She got up quietly and answered the phone and nodded to whoever was on the phone.

"The body is here" She said simply and started to pick up her lab coat.

"Bones, wait will you stay with me tonight?" Booth asked, wondering if she'd say no. They had spent every night together since Vincent's death and he knew she'd want space eventually and he was determined that if she said no, he would accept it gracefully. He'd give her all the space she needed if it meant that she would continue to love him and be with him.

"I'd like that" Bones said as she walked out the door of her office and up to the platform. She knew he was watching her and instead of feeling crowded like she would have by any other man, she felt warm and safe. She gave him a quick smile and scanned her card to be allowed access onto the platform. She kept that warm and safe feeling with her knowing she would need it to get through this examination of the body.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Getting closer every day.**

The case had been a fairly simple one, closed within a couple of days. A victim of jealousy and pettiness as too many of their murder cases seemed to be. Every time one of these cases came up it shook her resolve to stay with Booth, fearful that one day they may fall victim to the jealousy and pettiness that caused these murders. She knew she'd never kill someone for those reasons, but to fall victim to those feelings and allow them to destroy her relationship with Booth, scared her intensely. She knew jealousy existed, had felt that emotion, but she couldn't imagine it destroying the life she was slowly building with Booth.

It had been a week since they first slept together and they hadn't spent one night apart. During the case Brennan had moved between needing Booth with her desperately, to wanting to be away from him but being unable to bring herself to leave. She knew she needed to talk to him about her fears, to explain why she was running hot and cold, but she wanted the case to be over first. She told herself that she would speak with him that night, to tell him of her fears, believing doing so would only strengthen their bond. It was a testament to how much she'd changed that she was willing to do this, to share her feelings rather than hiding them away.

"What's got you thinking so hard?" Booth asked shaking her out of her revelry. He looked at her taking in her quiet reserved features knowing this case had not been easy for her. Spending every night with her this week had been a dream come true and he didn't want her to leave, but he knew that once she got through whatever was rolling around in that brilliant mind of hers out, it was possible she'd want some space. He also had Parker that weekend and wasn't sure if Bones was ready to let him know about the change in their relationship.

"This case, I just think it was too soon after losing Vincent to get involved in another murder, maybe I should have taken a few days off" She told him hoping to divert him long enough to be able to get them home so they could talk. She was ready to leave for the night and she wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed with the man she loved, but she knew she wouldn't sleep until she got this out of her system.

"Maybe you should take a long weekend, I mean it's Thursday we could take tomorrow off, maybe I could ask Rebecca if I could have Parker for an extra night, we could have some fun with him, if you are up for it?" Booth asked knowing that Parker never failed to bring Bones out of her shell. The bond they had was so strong, it was almost like Bones was his mother.

"I'd like that, but for now I'd just like to go home, I'll call Cam in the morning if I decide to take tomorrow off" Brennan told him and started to collect her things so they could leave. She was about to reach for her messenger bag when Booth wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck in that sensitive little spot of hers that never failed to weaken her knees. She turned into his embrace and reached up to kiss him. He opened his mouth to her and soon they were lost in the kiss and it took all of his self control not to move her over to the lounge and take her right there.

"Let's go home" He said breaking the kiss and smiling at her gently. He reached for her bag and put an arm around her as they walked out of her office and to the parking garage. They quickly got in the SUV and he started the car. He was about to pull out of the parking space when she reached over and kissed him again, surprising him with her intensity.

"Bones, we cannot make out in the car in the Jeffersonian's parking garage, Angela probably has cameras installed all throughout the garage trying to catch a weak moment between us" Booth said laughing softly at the expression on Brennan's face as she tried to decipher his meaning. He started the car and began to head towards his place, then changed his mind thinking she might be more comfortable at her own place.

She seemed to have things on her mind and he wanted to be able to support her as much as she would allow him to. She didn't question his decision to take them to her apartment and as she let them in, she turned to look at him feeling grateful to have a person in her life that understood her so well. It still overwhelmed her a little, but it was a nice feeling, to be cared for.

"Booth, do you think we will ever feel that way about each other?" She asked tentatively wanting to get this conversation out of the way so they could concentrate on enjoying the rest of their night.

"What the jealousy and the pettiness?" Booth asked, just to hear her say the words, he'd had a feeling that was what was going through her brilliant mind, but knew as well as anyone that sometimes she had to voice her thoughts and he was going to let her do that no matter what it cost him.

"Yes, it destroyed their feelings for each other so much that one of them committed murder, what's to stop that from happening to us?" Brennan asked, not wanting to feel as vulnerable as she did but she was not a relationship person, relationships were as foreign to her as feelings were at times. She had no real idea of what she was doing, only that she loved Booth and she knew she'd never leave him.

"No! We love each other, those two, they didn't love each other, if they did they would have trusted each other more, you-us we are more than that" Booth told her taking her into his arms hoping she felt the sincerity of his words. He was surprised to feel her shake in his arms and turned her face up to his to see tears in her eyes.

"I trust you Booth, with my heart and my life, I've never given anyone that much power over me" She told him her eyes a bright shining blue boring straight into his soul.

"And I trust you Temperance, with my heart, my life and my soul, I will never leave you willingly" Booth told her solemnly, cementing her into his heart knowing after this moment nothing other than death would break them. Sure they'd probably fight sometimes, and bicker, they wouldn't be them if they didn't do that, and they'd have misunderstandings, because neither of them were perfect and everyone falls short sometimes. This relationship was different to all of their other relationships and both of them knew they'd never leave this relationship willingly.

"Thank you Booth, this case it just made me worry, I don't ever want anything to destroy my love for you" She told him taking him into a passionate kiss, wanting to punctuate her words with actions. Actions she could do well, feelings not so much. So she told him with her body and her hands, exactly what her mind couldn't quite put into words. She backed him up into her bedroom never breaking the kiss, her hands working deftly to unbutton his shirt, her hands desperately looking for his soft skin so she could run her hands over it.

Once she had his shirt unbuttoned she removed it and moved her mouth to his neck nipping him gently before licking the skin she'd bitten. She heard him groan, as she felt her own shirt being removed from her body and then air beneath her as he picked her up and placed her on the bed.

"I love you Bones" He told her before looking over her beautiful body, taking in the soft creamy skin, her hardened nipples underneath her bra, and then looked into her eyes to see that they'd turned a cloudy green with arousal. He lowered his body over hers and propped himself up with his arms so he didn't crush her. He kissed her gently, his tongue pushing against her lips asking for entrance, which she granted him readily. He moved then from her lips down to the hollow of her neck, gently nipping and sucking at her pulse point, loving the taste of her soft skin, and the quiet moans and sighs coming from her. Before he could move any lower she flipped him over and straddled him obviously not in the mood for slow, moving her hands to undo his belt, smiling unconsciously at the 'Cocky' belt buckle. Once she had removed his pants and did away with her own clothes, both of them finally naked, she bent and kissed him pressing her body into his, smiling at the hardness she felt beneath her. She knew he was more than ready but she wanted to tease him a little. She explored his mouth, running her hands through his hair, while grinding herself, just a little against him. She was rewarded with a groan and chuckled to herself a little knowing the power she had over him.

"You're pretty happy with yourself there Bones" He said and stifled another groan as she ground against him again. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with love for him as she sank herself down upon him. She stilled for a moment to get used to the pressure of him inside her and then began to slowly rise up a little and then down watching his face while she rode him. She smiled as he began to match her strokes, and she quickened the pace, allowing him to thrust upwards into her deeper. She couldn't hold back a moan as he hit a spot within her that made her toes curl, the pace he set rocketing her arousal skywards, as she moved closer and closer to the release they were both seeking, she knew she was moaning his name as he moved his hands to cup her breasts, teasing the nipples gently, causing her to lose her focus a little. All too soon her release was approaching and she could feel him growing inside her, her walls beginning to clench around him. She looked into his eyes and new he was just as close as she was so she leaned down and bit his shoulder, her release exploding over her and the pleasure & pain from the bite causing him to go with her. She collapsed onto his chest, her heart thudding in her chest, sweat glistening on both of their bodies as he wrapped his arms around her holding her while the tremors continued.

"I have to say I am glad I wasn't wrong about us, making love with you is definitely very satisfying" She said to him once her heart had stopped trying to beat out of her chest. She slowly moved herself off his chest and cuddled next to him, completely content.

" I never doubted it for a second Bones, being with you is amazing" Booth told her, gently pulling the sheets around them, knowing that she would soon be asleep. He knew she was exhausted from the case, Vincent and her worries about them. He just wanted to hold her and continue to assure her that what they were doing was right, and that he wasn't going to leave her.

"Booth, am I your girlfriend now?" Brennan asked sleepily, not sure she liked the term but wanting to put some kind of name to their relationship, to help it feel more real.

"Yes Bones, so long as I can be your boyfriend" Booth told her gently, surprised that she had brought that question up. He was proud of her, firstly being the first of them to say I love you and now trying to put a name to their relationship, to define what had always been undefined. He looked over at her and saw that she fallen asleep, her face softening in sleep, and he thought she had never looked more beautiful.

He lay there for a while thinking about the weekend and hoped that Rebecca would give him the extra day with Parker, he knew his son had been waiting years for them to get their acts together and knew he was going to be very excited when they told him. Thoughts of his son and his beautiful girlfriend in his arms lulled him off to sleep, a smile resting on his face as he drifted off.

_Thank you everyone who is reading my story your reviews have been great :) As a first time writer of Bones fiction I hope you are enjoying this story. I've always wanted to know what happened between them getting together and the beginning of Season 7. A pregnant Bones is always going to be fun to play with. I plan to update this story at least weekly so stay tuned!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – The boy who wanted more**

She did end up taking the Thursday off, shocking Cam completely when she rang her to tell her she was taking a long weekend. Booth was able to swing an extra day with Parker and by Saturday the three of them were happily spending the morning at the beach after a nice drive in the car. Parker was animatedly describing an experiment he'd done at school, trying to impress Bones, happy to finally be able to spend some solid time with her, after the whole Hannah debacle.

"It was so gross and it smelled so bad!" Parker laughed his eyes twinkling almost exactly like Booth's did when he laughed. He looked up at two of his favourite people in the world and knew he needed to ask them something.

"Dad, Bones are you seeing each other now?" Parker asked shyly, desperately hoping the answer was yes. He'd been hoping for this day for a long time and as much as he'd liked Hannah, she just wasn't Bones, she didn't know anywhere near as much cool stuff as Bones did and he knew he'd only tried to like Hannah to please his Dad. Bones was his friend, but had always felt more like his step-mum, she'd been the one to help him with his homework, teach him about science, she knew so many cool facts and never tired of sharing them or answering his questions. Sometimes he liked Bones more than he liked his Mum & Dad just because she treated him like an adult, she never thought anything he said was stupid.

"Well bub, we actually wanted to talk to you about that" Booth told his son, looking at the woman he loved, searching for any sign of hesitation or fear. Instead she smiled at him, really smiled at him iand t lit up her whole face so much that he'd never felt luckier in his life. He went to continue but Bones took the lead.

"Your Dad and I are dating, are you okay with that Parker?" Brennan asked him, her face showing a slight amount of fear only now that she was faced with whether Parker would be okay with this. She loved him and although she knew he loved her too, this was a big development.

"Okay?! This is awesome, you don't know how long I've waited for you to say that" Parker said flinging himself at Bones and hugging her enthusiastically. She wrapped her arms around him and a tear slid down her cheek as she thought of how long it had been since they'd spent time together and how much she'd missed him. Parker was the reason she'd wanted to have children, he never made her feel like she was inept at anything, his trust and faith in her astonished her every day. He was the one person where she felt she could not say anything wrong and she loved him, sometimes more than she knew she had a right to. It had broken her heart when Booth had stopped letting him spend time with her, when he was pulling away from her to be with Hannah.

"I'm glad you are happy buddy, because I love Bones and we are going to be together for a very long time" Booth told his son, taking in the way Bones held him, the tear sliding down her cheek, and it took his breath away when he thought about how little time his son and Bones had spent together lately. How blind had he been to not see his son needed Bones, and Bones needed him. He promised himself that no matter what happened between Bones and him, that she would always be able to see Parker and be a part of his life.

"I don't know about you two, but I am starving how about we go find some lunch" Brennan said and looked up at Booth, feeling her breath catch in her throat at the intensity of his gaze. She helped Parker up and stood next to the man she loved, looking into his eyes she gently kissed him, feeling incredibly lucky to have this chance with him again, after everything that had happened.

"I might be happy with you two dating but that doesn't mean you can kiss in front of me all the time ewwww!" Parker laughed and shrieked as his dad began tickling him, then suddenly grabbed Bones and soon they were a jumbling mess of tickles and laughter. It felt really good to be doing this together, another step in the right direction.

The weekend passed far too quickly for all of them and as Booth drove them back to Rebbeca's place to drop off Parker, the mood had slowly turned sombre. Parker knew he needed to live with his mum, but thought maybe now that Bones and his dad were together that maybe she might let him spend a bit more time with them. They always had such a great time together, and he knew his mum liked Bones. She'd told him on more than one occasion that she didn't know how they weren't together and although she'd never voiced it, he got the feeling she never really liked Hannah.

"I'll never get used to that" Booth said as he watched his son and his mother walk back up the steps away from them. It always hurt to say goodbye to his son for the week, not knowing if something was going to happen to break into his time with him. Lately Rebecca had been a lot better about making sure she didn't interrupt their time together and he knew she approved of Bones. They'd had more than one conversation about why he wasn't dating Bones. She'd almost done an Angela squeal when he'd told her that Bones and he were finally dating and it made him smile to think of the memory.

"Neither will I, I find that I miss him when he's not here" Brennan said truthfully, the longer she was in a relationship with Booth the more Parker felt like hers. They'd only been together a week and a half, but it had already proved to be some of the better times in her life. Spending almost four days with the little boy, who was no longer really a little boy being almost 10, had been a complete joy. That's not to say that Parker was never mischievous, he was a normal boy when it came to things like that, but Parker had always felt like her child too, so getting to spend any time with him for any reason was worth it.

"Well we now have all night to console ourselves" Booth said smirking at the instant change in Bones' mood. He knew he was flirting outrageously with her, but it felt so good not having to hold that part back. He stopped the car after he'd parked in her parking garage and lent over to kiss her, passionately, leaving no argument as to what he'd like to be doing at that moment. He felt her more than heard her moan into his mouth and soon got lost in the kiss. When breathing proved too difficult he reluctantly pulled away smiling at the pink tinge to her skin and tousled hair. He wanted her to always look like that, so sexy and the look of obvious desire on her face.

They spent the rest of the night bringing each other to heights of ecstasy neither of them had ever felt with anyone else, and when they were both finally sated they lay together, Brennan curled up in his arms completely content in his embrace. They lay there for a while, no words passing between them both caught up in their own thoughts and feelings.

"Bones, as much as I don't want to, I think there are some things both of us need to air before we get too caught up in this and forget to say them" Booth told Brennan, pulling her tighter against him, letting her know through his actions that he was not letting her go and nothing she said would ever make him want to leave.

"I know we talked in the elevator, but we didn't really say everything we wanted to say" Brennan said, amazed that Booth was bringing this up. She knew how much he hated talking things out, and as much as she didn't like it either out of the two of them she was always more willing to talk than he was. She knew there were things he didn't know, things she hadn't been able to tell him because he'd been with Hannah, and they'd never really had a chance after she left, Booth had been so angry and she was scared if she told him, he'd leave her too.

"Booth, when we came back from our seven months apart, I- I was going to tell you I was ready to take that chance, I was about to tell you" She said before he interrupted her.

"But I told you I was with Hannah" He said simply, wanting to urge her on but not wanting to rush the process. Instead he squeezed her gently, letting her know silently that she could say what she needed to. He knew he wasn't going to like what he heard, already didn't like what she'd said so far. If only he'd known, but now was no time for if only's, she was his now that's all that mattered.

"Yes, and you told me it was as serious as a heart attack, I-I couldn't say anything, my heart was crushed, metaphorically" She told him, turning herself towards him so she could look into his eyes.

" I don't think I've ever felt pain like that and it wasn't even all your fault, if I had only just been stronger, not as afraid to lose my imperviousness..." She said as she trailed off, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Shhh Bones, I'm here now, I'm yours now" He said as he wrapped his arms around her tighter again and allowed her to cry for a while. He knew he had things he needed to tell her too, apologise for and in some ways he wished he'd said them earlier.

"Bones, I was wrong, what I did with Hannah was wrong, when I saw you that night all those feelings I'd had for you rushed back and I, well I did what I had to in order to show that I was true to my word, that I had moved on" He said feeling a little ashamed. She went to interrupt him but he placed a finger on her lips, knowing he needed to get this all out.

"When Hannah came back, I thought this is my chance, to show you I could move on without you, and for a while I didn't want to see how much it was hurting you, I tried to make Hannah my world the way you had been, and I stopped bring Parker over, and bringing you Thai and making you eat and doing all of the things that made me your best friend, I stopped being true to myself... I don't know why it was so important to me to show you I'd moved on, but Bones you have to believe me I never really did, Hannah, she was a big mistake...I – I knew she wasn't right for me and eventually she'd move on, but she was who I could have right then and then when I saw how much you were hurting, especially during the Lauren Eames case, it panicked me, I saw during that time that you did love me, and I looked back and saw all the things you were doing for me and how much I was hurting you, Bones I am so sorry, I was an ass, a complete ass to you" Booth said tears in his own eyes, wanting her to hear everything to know everything about that time.

"Just let me finish okay, and then you can say whatever you need to, Bones you were the one back then and you are the one now, I hurt you on purpose, I threw Hannah in your face, and I took Parker from you and I can only hope you'll forgive me for that, but I want you to forgive me more for is for pushing you, I gave into my urge to gamble and I listened to Sweets, and I shouldn't have, I knew you weren't ready, I knew that you needed time and I don't know why I did what I did, but I should have waited for you, I should have fought for you and I should never have put you in that position, Bones you are and will always be the one I want, just as you are, you will never need to change for me" Booth told her, looking deeply into her eyes and seeing the forgiveness in her eyes that he still wasn't sure he deserved. Thinking back he knew how much he was hurting her, yet he couldn't stop himself.

"Booth, I forgive you, and I hope you can forgive me for getting scared and telling you I couldn't change, I know I can, but I was so afraid I would hurt you, I could never have stood that, knowing I'd hurt you, but with how inept I was at relationships at the time I felt it was inevitable that I would" Brennan told him gently, not able to resist placing a light kiss on his lips. He surprised her and deepened the kiss and soon they were clinging together, forgiving and loving each other in ways that words could never show.

"Booth I love you" Brennan told him sleepily when they were wrapped in each others arms again after their lovemaking.

"I love you too Bones, you'll never know how much but I will spend all of my life proving it to you" Booth told her as they both drifted off to sleep together. Little did they know but as they slept, changes were beginning between them, the seed had been sown and the path they were on was set. It would be another two weeks before this development would make itself known, and it would change their lives for ever.

**TBC**

**_Sorry for leaving it there, but the chapter was getting too long. I could have gone on and on about all the things they needed to apologise to each other about, and it always saddened me that we didn't get to see a discussion like this between them in the show... until next time! _**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – A lull in activity**

**Authors Note: I apologise for the lateness of this chapter.. I was at my folks all weekend without a laptop. Unfortunately working a fulltime job and being a single parent doesn't leave me a lot of time to write during the week.. so I tend to write on the weekends. Anyhow.. here's the next chapter.. Enjoy :)**

It had been a week since their visit with Parker, unfortunately Booth was still only able to have Parker every second weekend so he wouldn't be back until the coming weekend. As much as Booth loved having his son with him and wished he could have him more, he was actually grateful that he didn't have him more during the first few weeks of his budding relationship with Bones. They'd had some really difficult emotional discussions since that weekend with Parker when they'd bared a lot of their hurts. They had both known at the end of that discussion that there was more to talk about, and Bones had seemed more willing to open up about her past and her experiences at the foster homes which had ended up with Booth making some shocking discoveries of what Bones had truly gone through in those places. He understood more than ever now why she had closed off her heart to love and he was truly proud of the progress she was making every day.

They hadn't had a case in over a week so Bones' was stuck doing historical anthropological duties and although she missed the thrills of working the murders she was actually reluctant to admit she was relieved they weren't chasing bad guys at the moment. She'd been strangely fatigued at times during the week and attributed it to the stress of losing Vincent and the emotional discussions she and Booth had been engaging in. She had been opening up to him a lot more recently out of a need for him to understand where she had come from. She knew he understood her better than most people but there were things he didn't know, things Angela knew but no one else did, that she had felt, and after a big discussion with Angela, that Booth needed to know to ensure their budding relationship would be on solid ground. She sighed, as she sat at her desk in front of a report that she needed to finish on the 1500 year old Celtic warrior she'd examined that day. Her focus was slightly off today, she'd been tired most of the day, even though she'd slept quite well and they'd had a long weekend the weekend before.

"Hey sweetie, I have that facial reconstruction for our Celtic friend out there" Angela said as she waddled into the room, watching Brennan's focus snap to her from wherever it had been before she'd walked in. She looked at Brennan and saw that her best friend looked a little pale, not an unusual thing for Brennan, but since Booth had been back in full 'Booth' mode since Hannah's departure, she'd been looking a lot better.

"That's great Ange, but you know you could have called me, I would have walked over to you" Brennan told her friend, knowing that in her later stages of pregnancy Ange's mobility was becoming more restricted as it progressed. The baby was due in two weeks and Ange had complained about her swollen feet and sore back a few times to Brennan when they'd been talking, she'd even offered her services to help relieve some of the back pain, and massage her swollen feet during some discussions they'd had. It was strange for her, but seeing her friend's discomfort was disconcerting and although she knew she didn't always get it right she wanted to do all she could help.

"Hey I know I resemble the Hindenburg at the moment but the doctor said it was good for me to walk around and keep mobile, really Bren I didn't expect you to jump on the over protective bandwagon!" Ange said a little sharply, she was getting annoyed with Hodgins at the moment and his hovering, which was exactly why she'd walked over to Brennan's office to give her the sketch, and show her the reconstruction on Brennan's computer, anything to get away from Hodgins. It both pleased and surprised her that Brennan would become over protective. Brennan had staunchly reminded Hodgins on many occasions that Angela was pregnant not sick, and had advocated for her on many occasions when Hodgins had gone overboard with the protectiveness.

"I'm sorry Ange, it's just the last week or so you and I have had numerous lunches in my office when Booth and I haven't been able to have lunch, and you've mentioned your back aches, and swollen feet, I've even massaged them for you and I find that I am more concerned with your discomfort than I anticipated" Brennan told Ange, biting her lip at revealing that information. She loved Angela like a sister and felt excited about welcoming a new life into the lab. After the darkness of the past few weeks, they were all still dealing with Vincent's death, Angela and Hodgins' baby was like a beacon of light through the darkness. Feeling a little foolish, she took the pad from Angela and tried to direct the conversation back to work.

"Sweetie, I know and I am sorry, I'd just escaped from Hodgins and his incessant hovering and I took it out on you, I'd blame it on hormones, but really let's just blame Hodgins, I love you for thinking of me and seriously Bren, those hands of yours are magic, Booth is a very lucky man" Angela told her friend chuckling at the blush that appeared on Brennan's face.

"Ange, you know I won't be giving you any details on how lucky Booth is right, Booth would not like me talking about our sex life with you" Brennan told her friend, even though part of her really craved to talk to Angela about it. Angela had introduced her to the concept of girl talk and she found she actually enjoyed talking with Angela about these typically 'girl' conversations. She made a mental note to talk to Booth about this again, while she understood his 'what was theirs was theirs' concept, she felt she was giving up a part of her relationship with Angela in allowing it.

"Booth needs to learn to live a little and for such a confident, sexy man he sure has some hangups in that department" Ange told her best friend and hearing footsteps behind her turned to see Booth walking up to them. Hoping he hadn't heard her last statement she kept quiet wanting to see what he would say.

"Ange, I heard that, and Bones if you want to talk to Ange about our sex life, I guess that's okay with me, she's your best friend and I know best friends talk about things like that, just know Ange if any of it gets back to Hodgins I will have something to say" Booth said shocking both Ange and Brennan. Ange nodded mutely at Booth and then smiled at Brennan, who was staring up at Booth confused.

"I promise you Booth, what Bren and I talk about never gets spoken to anyone else, she's my best friend and I will always keep her confidences" Ange promised both Booth and Brennan even though she knew Brennan was already aware of this promise which had been given long before Booth was involved in Brennan's life.

"Thank you Ange, know I would like to take my beautiful girlfriend out for lunch, Bones are you hungry?" Booth asked Brennan who was still looking a little confused at what had just gone on between the three of them.

"I, uh I guess I could eat" Brennan said, not really feeling hungry but after stealing a quick glance at her clock and knowing that she'd been unable to eat breakfast that morning she figured a break for some food was a good idea.

"Lead the way then Bones, Ange if you're hungry I'd be happy for you to join us?" Booth asked, knowing that at this stage in pregnancy Angela was always hungry and he actually wanted to have lunch with both women. Booth was not a stupid man, he knew Angela was often Brennan's heart when Brennan couldn't trust her own heart, and he knew that Brennan needed someone other than him to confide in about anything. Angela had been Brennan's best friend long before he'd been a part of her life and he knew that he needed to ensure that his relationship with Bones did not alter that friendship. Bones needed all the people she had in her life and Angela was one of the most important people in Bones' life, which made her very important to him.

"That sounds great, it will give me a chance to get away from Hovering Hodgins as well" Ange told them both, she needed to get off her feet anyway and being able to have lunch with two of her favourite people in the world and watch them being a couple was too good to pass up.

"Lead on G Man" Angela said laughing at the two of them and watched as Booth gently took Brennan's hand and they walked out of the lab. They walked as quickly as a 38 week pregnant woman and an exhausted anthropologist could walk to the parking garage and made their way to the diner.

Once they were seated Booth took a quick look at Bones and saw she looked tired and pale. He knew she'd been sleeping well the last few days, he hadn't felt her get out of bed during the night and being a trained sniper he always felt her get out of bed in the middle of the night and decided this weekend he was going to make sure they had a fun weekend, no serious emotional discussions, just chilling out and enjoying each others company. He knew their new relationship would be a lot to process for Bones but was unprepared for the physical toll it would take on her.

"So Ange, how's junior doing?" Booth asked bringing his focus back to the table and to both occupants sitting with him. He stole another quick look at Bones and winked at her drawing a smile from the anthropologist.

"Apart from kicking my insides repeatedly he or she's doing well, doctor said it could be any day now" Angela told them rubbing her stomach affectionately. As scared as she was about the possible outcome of the birth of her child, she couldn't wait to meet this little being who made sleep almost impossible some nights, and constantly sat on her bladder. She knew no matter what blind or not blind she was going to love this child more than she'd ever loved anyone before, even Hodgins.

"Well you look beautiful Ange, and let me talk to Hodgins, I've been an expectant father, as much as I know what he's going through it's got to be tougher on you" Booth said to Angela, taking Bones' hand under the table. Seeing Angela pregnant had often made him think of the baby he and Bones had almost had, and made him wonder if they would ever have a child together. He knew it was way to early in their relationship to be even thinking children, but he often wondered since they'd finally allowed themselves to admit their love for each other, if children would be on the cards for them. His thought's were interrupted by their food arriving and he reluctantly let go of Bones' hand to grab the sauce for his burger.

"Bren, are you ok?" Ange asked looking at her friend as she stared at her meal, making no move to begin eating. Brennan looked paler than before if possible and Ange was beginning to get a little worried.

"Ah yeah, I just don't feel very hungry" Brennan said, not knowing why but she just couldn't even think of eating the soup that was in front of her. It wasn't that the smell of the soup was making her feel sick or anything, she just couldn't eat it. It was her favourite soup, and normally she'd be well into it by now, but she just couldn't bring herself to even take a bite.

"Bones, you have to eat, are you feeling ok? Maybe I should take you home?" Booth said, concern etched across his face.

"I don't feel sick, just the soup doesn't appeal to me, and I'm not hungry enough to figure out what does" Brennan remarked, wanting to assure Booth, she considered just trying to eat the soup, but couldn't even bring herself to pick up her spoon.

"Sweetie, you look a little pale, maybe a half day would do you good, so much has happened recently maybe your body is just telling you it needs a bit of a break" Ange suggested concerned too, but felt that appealing to Brennan's logical nature was more likely to get her best friend to go home than Booth's approach.

"You are probably right, I'll call Cam and tell her I'm going home, I might go now, Booth you stay here and finish lunch with Angela, I can drive myself home" Brennan said before Booth could even argue. She put some money on the table and then went to walk out, but was stopped by Booth before she could go.

"Do you want me to come over after work?"Booth asked hoping she'd say yes and let him take care of her a little, but knew how fiercely independent Bones could be.

"I'd like that" Bones said as she placed a gentle kiss on Booths mouth, lingering a little hoping to assuage some of his concern. She found it hard to sleep without Booth these days and as much as she didn't want to admit that, she wanted him in her bed that night, wanted him to come home to her. She gently released him, waved to Angela and walked out of the diner and called a cab. She knew Booth would be happy to drive her to work the next morning and figured a good sleep and some food after her sleep and she'd feel a lot better.

"Did that just happen?" Angela asked Booth, both of them watching Brennan get into a cab outside of the diner.

"I feel like I should have gone with her" Booth said, still a little shocked that Bones had taken their advice and gone home. Something was up with his girlfriend and he was going to find out what that was, and he hoped that by the time he got home, that she was feeling more like herself.

_Just for your information Brennan is about 3 weeks pregnant at this point in the story unbeknownst to both her and Booth, and after some reading on pregnancy, some women at this stage experience turn off's to certain foods, even foods that have been favourites for them. I always felt that from Brennan's interest in Angela going into labour in 'The Change in the Game' that she knew she was pregnant at that stage or had some inkling. It didn't feel like a sudden development for Bones. So I'm going with it. Until next time_

_Mel_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – The beginning of the changes**

_**Author note: I wanted to get this chapter out before Easter as I'll be at my folks with no computer, so enjoy and Happy easter to all who celebrates it :) Don't eat too much chocolate or hot cross buns! :)**_

When Booth arrived at Brennan's apartment later that afternoon, he let himself in quietly, not knowing if his partner would still be asleep or not. He looked around the apartment, taking in the plate in the sink, signs that Brennan had at least eaten something while she'd been home and headed towards her bedroom.

Walking into her bedroom he stopped at the sight before him, Brennan was asleep half out of the covers still dressed in her clothes from that day, a book resting just out of her hand. She'd obviously fallen asleep reading and he was taken aback by the beauty of her. He'd never seen her sleep during the day, unless it was after they'd made love in the morning on a weekend. He was a little concerned by her exhaustion, but figured it was due to the major changes that had occurred during the last few weeks. The death of her intern, their change in their relationship, Angela's pregnancy, their emotional outpourings to each other. If the exhaustion didn't let up he'd try to talk her into seeing a doctor, but he figured what she needed right now was a little TLC.

He decided he was going to cook her dinner, a nice vegetable lasagne, just like his Mum used to make except without the meat, then he'd treat her to a nice massage with scented oil, and hopefully get her to drift off to sleep early. As much as he wanted to make love to her all the time, he knew what she needed right now was to feel safe, and protected, as much as she'd never admit that.

He was well into cooking the lasagne when she walked out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen and the great smell it was invoking. She walked into the kitchen and let out a giggle at him bent over the oven with an apron on. As ridiculous as he looked she couldn't help but admire how he filled out the apron. He turned to her amused at the sound she'd just made and she had to walk up to him and kiss him, she was just so happy he was there.

"Sleep well baby?" Booth asked, the baby part slipping in and he almost smacked his own head knowing she didn't like that term of endearment. She was so happy he was there that she let it go and kissed him again silencing any further comment. The kiss intensified and soon she was backed up against the cupboard a knob digging into her back a little as he pressed himself against her, his hands wandering down her side, pulling her too him. He broke off the kiss suddenly, remembering that tonight was supposed to be all about pampering her, not about exhausting her further by taking her and doing exactly what his body was screaming out for him to do.

"Sorry, I wasn't planning on that happening, I just-" He said but was stopped by her pulling him into a hug, just needing to be close to him at that moment. He could feel her heart beating furiously against his chest and knew she had wanted to continue just as much as he did.

"It's okay Booth, I understand and I plan on letting you do whatever it is that you have planned for tonight, not that kissing you and making love to you isn't wonderful, I know I need to let you take care of me sometimes" Brennan admitted, as hard as it was for her to accept, and she knew she would continue to fight him on it a lot of the time, taking care of her was something he needed at times and with how tired she'd felt that day, she wasn't going to stop him.

"You are? Wow, you amaze me Temperance" He told her gently kissing her, just a simple brush of his lips against hers and then he turned to the oven to check on the lasagne.

"So what smells so good?" Brennan asked, sniffing appreciatively at the oven. Although she'd managed to eat some toast when she'd gotten home, that had been several hours ago, and she was starving now.

"Vegetable lasagne, just how my mum used to cook it, although she used meat, it's one of the only recipes of hers I still remember, Pops used to make it for us once a month when we went to live with him, so we wouldn't forget her, I think he always felt responsible that he couldn't get her to stay" Booth told her, thinking of Pops made him want to go visit him and he thought that might be a nice thing for them to do on the weekend. He knew Pops would figure out there'd been a change between them, but he figured his Pops would be happy for them. He'd been telling him for years that Temperance was a keeper.

"Sounds like she was a great Mum, speaking of Pops we should go visit him, it's been a while since I've seen him and I think we should tell him about us" Brennan suggested, knowing that Booth liked to go see Pops at least once a month and normally took Parker, but figured that it would be a good opportunity for them to tell Pops about their relationship. She didn't anticipate that Pops would be unhappy, in actuality he'd probably tell them it was about time, but she was still a little nervous. She was new to this, telling people she was in a committed relationship with someone. Her relationships were normally very private, so planning to tell people about her and Booth was different for her, not unpleasant, just different.

"That sounds perfect Bones, now how bout some dessert, I could go and pick up some of that ice cream you love?" Booth suggested, surprised that Bones had suggested the visit to Pops, it had been on the tip of his tongue, but she'd beaten him to the punch. He was proud of her, he knew how different their relationship was for Bones, but she was soldiering on and was even revealing some things about herself that he hadn't even known. A softer Bones was emerging, one who was still as strong as she always was, but there was a softness that existed now, that wasn't there before and he loved this side of her and wanted to encourage it out as often as he could.

"That would be nice, I'm going to put on your television and curl up on the couch for a bit, dinner was wonderful, you are a wonderful man and I'm very lucky that you love me" Brennan told Booth kissing him gently as she stood up to clear the table. She quickly put the dishes in her dishwasher and watched Booth leave her reluctantly to go get the ice cream. While he was gone she sat on the couch, lost in thought never actually turning on the television. She thought of the last few weeks, and her physical symptoms. As much as she'd shrugged them off to Booth and Angela, she was a little concerned. She was used to stress, and lack of sleep, sometimes on cases she didn't sleep for days. No this felt different to that, it was a pervasive exhaustion catching her unawares at different times of the day, and then the inability to eat the soup today, that had happened before also, the other day she'd been unable to stomach her usual brand of tea, she'd thought that maybe the packet was out of date, she'd not been home to drink tea much recently, or maybe it was the milk, but she remembered being unable to swallow the sip of tea she'd tried.

She catalogued all of her symptoms, running them against possible causes, her brain working fast as it came up with possibilities. One instantly sprang to mind, but she dismissed it, it was possible yes, but she couldn't even bring herself to think of it. It was definitely out, there was no way it could be true, but even as she thought that thought she remembered the day Vincent died, remembered that night when she and Booth had made love for the first time, remembered that they'd had unprotected sex, remembered that she had forgotten to take her pill that morning, and that she didn't take it the next day either due Broadsky and her distraction over Booth, possibly dying during his battle with him and the change to their relationship. Thinking back to when she last had a period, she knew instantly that she was late. She began to panic a little, until her scientist brain kicked in reminding her that she'd been under a large amount of stress recently, and that stress can delay a period. She calmed her panic and decided she would wait a few days and then if she still hadn't gotten her period then she would take a test. Once she'd made her decision she felt a lot better and turned on the television not wanting to alarm Booth, who would be expecting it on when he got back with the ice cream.

She tried to concentrate on the documentary she put on, but found herself drifting off after a few minutes, her head coming to rest on the edge of the lounge as she fell deeper into sleep. That was how Booth found her a few minutes later when he got back with the ice cream. He smiled at how relaxed she was in sleep and decided the ice cream would keep for another day. He quietly packed it away and then went and lifted her into his arms to carry her to the bed. She stirred a little when he picked her up, but her head immediately fell on his shoulder as she recognised his scent and drifted further into sleep. She didn't feel him undress her gently and when he slipped into bed next to her she didn't even stir. He watched her for a while, taking in her state of complete relaxation. He hadn't seen her this zonked out in forever. He felt his own eyes drooping after a while and wrapped himself around her joining her in sleep not much later.

She awoke to the need to urinate and had to unfold herself from his arms to get out of the bed. A quick look at the clock saw it reading 4.40am and she quickly headed to the bathroom, still quite tired. Once finished she headed back to bed and into the same space she'd been in before she'd awoken. She loved how his body seemed to miss her presence and shifted closer to her when she got out of bed.

"You ok?" He asked startling her a little, she hadn't realised he was awake.

"Yes, I just had to go to the bathroom, go back to sleep Booth" She told him, and although she was tired she found she wasn't ready to sleep, he wasn't apparently either as he raised himself up and kissed her, gently at first, and then more insistent as the kiss deepened. She looked into his eyes and saw the desire in them, his eyes darkening with it and felt her own desire answering his. She felt his lips move from her mouth down her cheek and then into her neck and groaned as he found a particularly sensitive spot. She gasped as he nipped at the spot, and then lifted his head up again his eyes asking a question. She nodded and smiled as he began removing her clothes, slowly, sensually, his hands roaming over her body as more skin was exposed, causing her to shiver at his touch. Not to be put out she worked just as quickly to remove his boxers and soon they were naked together, both exploring the skin revealed to them, not in a hurry to reach any destination.

He turned her onto her back and began kissing down her body, coming to rest at her breasts his tongue darting out to lick one, and then he captured a nipple between his lips, smiling at the gasp it caused as he rolled it around in his mouth, his hand coming to tease her other breast at the same time. She arched herself up at him, at the sensation and felt his erection pressing against her. While she'd been content to go slow before his attention to her nipples was causing the need within her to become more insistent, and she decided to hurry things along a little. She arched herself up against him again and brought her hand down between their bodies and began stroking him lightly. Hearing him groan and his mouth drop from her nipple as she took control, she smirked at how easy it was to turn the tides on him sometimes. She brought his mouth to hers again and turned him onto his back straddling him, slow no longer an option for either of them.

Without saying anything she pulled him into her and stayed that way for a long minute, allowing herself to accommodate to the size of him, and then she began to slowly move, groaning as his hands moved to her breasts, cupping them and then running his thumbs over her nipples. Their thrusts into each other grew more erratic as he continued to heighten her arousal, rubbing his thumbs continually over her hard nipples, she lowered herself a little and he took one in his mouth and felt her buck a little against him at the sensation. He let go of her nipple and kissed her roughly feeling that she was already pretty close and knew he wasn't going to last much longer either, grabbing her hips he pushed himself into her deeper, trying to find that spot inside of her that she liked and instantly felt her walls begin to clench around him as he hit it, she pulled away from him and he watched as she continued to ride him, the clenching getting stronger until she finally came undone and he came with her. She collapsed against him completely spent and still clenching around him. The aftershocks hit her for a few minutes, each one causing her walls to contract around him and not allowing his arousal to go down as it normally did after they'd come like that.

She noticed this herself and although she was tired, she was still interested in a second round. She rolled them over, his hard length still buried inside her and silently gave him the go ahead to begin again. He looked into her eyes still seeing desire despite the tiredness and fought with himself a little on whether to continue their lovemaking or not. She could see this and took it upon herself to start things back up again, taking him into a passionate kiss arching herself into him allowing her walls to stroke him a little. Getting the message he deepened the kiss beginning to thrust gently into her, surprised to feel her already clenching around him, he knew this second round wasn't going to take long so he moved his kisses to her neck, hitting the spot that normally drove her wild and concentrated on it, loving the sounds she was making, encouraging him to keep going. He began thrusting a little more forcefully into her as he moved his lips down to one of her still hard nipples feeling her inner walls clench him forcefully at this move, and when he bit down on one of her nipples it was too much and she came apart again around him, her inner walls clenching hard around him so that he followed her soon after, both of them breathing heavily at the strength of their orgasms. She was locked around him so tightly he knew it was going to be a little while before he would be able to pull out of her without hurting her so he relaxed a little propping himself up with his arms and gently stroked her face as she came down from the high.

"That was amazing" He said as he stroked her face, waiting patiently for her inner muscles to let him go. He watched her as she was watching him and wondered what she was thinking. Her arms were resting beside him and he could see she was struggling to verbalise something.

"I – I love you Booth, I keep waiting for the intensity to wear off, but I find that each time it's just as intense, if not more sometimes, I've never felt that before" She told him, still clenched around him even though it had been a good few minutes since they'd finished. It was slightly uncomfortable, but she knew it was due to the intensity of their lovemaking and she could easily suffer some slight discomfort in return for the experience of making love with Booth. She closed her eyes for a moment and forced herself to relax hoping that would eventually unclench her muscles, concentrating on her breathing. Within a few moments she felt herself relax and her muscles unclench. She felt him move to pull out of her and kept her eyes closed, her exhaustion sweeping over her as he settled next to her. She allowed him to pull her into his arms and felt him press a soft kiss against her forehead and smiled sleepily. Feeling completely content she allowed herself to drift off to sleep in his arms, feeling completely safe and protected a feeling she'd craved all of her life but never allowed herself to have.

He watched her fall asleep in his arms for a few minutes, watching as her face relaxed completely in sleep and a gentle smile graced her lips in sleep. He thought she was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen and couldn't believe it had taken him so long to finally make her his. His last thought before he allowed sleep to claim him was of Pops and how right he'd been, Temperance was made for him and he intended to spend the rest of his life proving that to her.

_Okay so now we know that Bones suspects she could be pregnant, but Bones being Bones she's going to ignore it for a little while, from my calculations on the show Angela gives birth about 5 weeks after Vincent's death, so she still has some time before the big announcement in the Change in the Game. Next up we have a visit with Pops, and a case to distract them a little before Brennan's thoughts of her possible pregnancy arise again. Thank you for reading :)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Visiting Pops**

**Authors Note: As it's been a long weekend I'm giving you an extra chapter :) I just want to thank you all for the great reviews so far. As much as I won't plug for them I do really appreciate the time you take to review :) On with the story!**

The rest of the week passed quickly, a case coming in the next day which consumed them both and put any thoughts of her being sick on the back burner. It was a fairly open and shut case, which Booth was grateful for, but it still took it's toll. On the day they caught the murderer Brennan had called him to tell him who the murderer was, but refused to go with him to arrest the suspect, claiming she had a mountain of paperwork to catch up on. He wanted to question her on it, but knew time was off the essence when catching a murderer so he went to make the arrest without her. When he got back to her office afterwards, she was curled up on her couch asleep. He watched her for a little while and then went off to find Angela, to see if he could get any information from her about Brennan's habits that day.

"Hey Ange, got a minute?" Booth asked motioning for Angela to stay seated. He walked over to her couch and sat next to her, admiring that she was still working despite the discomfort she must be feeling. If he had to be honest he'd never seen her look more beautiful and it made him wish he'd get to see Bones heavily pregnant with his child one day.

"For you Booth I do, what's up?" Angela asked grateful to not have to get up. At her last doctor's visit two days ago their obstetrician had told her the baby had engaged and could come at any time. Walking or standing at the moment was extremely uncomfortable, especially when the baby's head pressed against her pelvis. She saw the concern on Booth's face and knew this had to be about Bren, she herself had noticed that the anthropologist was a bit out of sorts, but couldn't figure out why and when she'd tried to talk to Brennan about it, she'd shrugged it off, saying she was just tired from everything that had happened recently.

"Bones is asleep in her office, she never sleeps during the day, something is going on with her but I can't figure it out and every time I ask she just says it's because of the strain of the last few weeks, I'm worried about her" Booth told Angela, hoping she'd be able to give him some insights. He wanted to suggest Bones see a doctor, but other than being a bit more tired than normal she wasn't exhibiting any other symptoms. Taking things easier didn't seem to be making much of a difference, he'd convinced her to go home no later than 7pm every night that week and she'd been asleep before 10pm every night. Maybe Sweets would have an idea how to help her.

"I've noticed she's been more tired than usual, but she keeps shrugging it off to me too Booth, maybe Sweets would be better to talk to, if this is emotional he might be able to help more, how is she sleeping at night?" Angela asked shifting on the lounge a little as the baby began stretching and rolling inside her, she only hoped it would stay off her bladder for the moment so she could continue her conversation with Booth.

"She's been asleep by 10pm every night, and she's slept well, she hasn't had a nightmare in at least a week that I've noticed, it's been four weeks since Vincent's death and she was having nightmares almost every night for a while there, but they've lessened recently" Booth said and wondered if that was the issue. He'd forgotten how much her nightmares took out of her and even though she hadn't noticed he'd been awake for every one of them. He'd wrap his arms around her, stroke her face and calm her down and she'd drift back to sleep in a few minutes but he knew every time she went into a REM state she wasn't sleeping deeply and that had to have taken a toll.

"Well maybe it's just that, what have you got planned this weekend?" Angela asked Booth making a decision to go and see if she could have another chat with her stubborn friend. If the exhaustion was due to the emotional roller coaster she'd been on recently then she was going to do her best to talk Brennan into speaking to Sweets about it.

"Other than seeing Pops we have nothing planned, I don't have Parker until next weekend so I was planning to try and make it as relaxing a weekend as possible, the romantic in me wants to celebrate our one month anniversary, but I think that might be a bit much for her" Booth told Angela sheepishly, he was really that kind of romantic guy and every time he thought about the fact that he was now with the woman of his dreams he just wanted to shout it to the rooftops, but he knew that Bones wasn't like that and compromise was necessary in relationships, he didn't think she'd have a problem celebrating their bigger anniversaries but would probably find celebrating the first month they were together a bit foolish.

"You are such a sweet man, I am so glad you two have finally gotten together" Angela told Booth tears welling in her eyes as she cursed her hormones.

"Thanks Ange and how are you feeling?" Booth asked noticing that Angela had squirmed a fair amount on the lounge while they'd been talking and knowing the baby was due in a matter of days he felt for her. She looked uncomfortable and he hoped she didn't go over her due date, he could only imagine how Hodgins was feeling at this stage.

"Oh like an overstuffed turkey! I am so ready to have this baby" Angela told Booth smiling as she watched her husband walk into the room.

"Hey man, another murderer behind bars thanks to Dr B's brilliance" Hodgins said clapping Booth on the shoulder before he went to take a seat on the other side of Angela.

"Yeah she always manages to come up with the goods" Booth replied proudly, thinking of how Bones had found the crucial piece of evidence to lock away the murderer yet again. He'd told her once that cops solve murders not squints, but he now conceded that he was wrong. Without Bones and her team of squints he would not have the solve rate that he did and he would never have been made head of Major crimes. He owed a lot to them all and knew he didn't always let them know that.

"She sure does man, so Ange now that the murderer's been caught think we could take off early, get you home and into some comfortable clothes, order some takeaway and chill?" Hodgins asked knowing he wouldn't have to work too hard to convince his wife to leave early.

"Sounds great, hey Booth do you and Bren want to come over for dinner?" Angela asked, thinking it might be a great opportunity to talk to Brennan about her tiredness and the toll the last few weeks had taken on her.

"I'll ask, but I'm hoping to convince Bones to go home early too and then tomorrow we are going to go see Pops" Booth said thinking he should make his escape and try and convince Bones to go home, if she wanted to do paperwork they could bring it home with them, he had an urge to pamper her again and wanted to give into that urge while Bones seemed amenable to it.

"Is Dr B okay? I noticed she's asleep in her office, I haven't seen her do that in a while" Hodgins asked concerned for his friend. Of all the people in the lab, Brennan understood him the best, sometimes even more than Angela did, she understood the scientist in him and when she was hurting he felt protective of her, like an older brother even though they were roughly the same age.

He was glad she had Booth now, even though he was still a little pissed at the way Booth had treated her during his relationship with Hannah, he was willing to let that go if Booth treated Brennan right. If he didn't sniper, FBI agent or no, he'd be having words with him and letting him know that no one hurts Dr B and gets away without a lecture from him. He thought back to the conversation he had with Booth after he'd found out that Booth had introduced Hannah to his son. He'd seen through their relationship immediately and he'd been disappointed in Booth for doing what he was doing.

_**Flashback**_

"_Booth! Can I talk to you for a minute" Hodgins had called out when the agent had turned to leave from drinks at the Founding Fathers to celebrate a closed case. Booth had turned around a bit impatiently and motioned for them to take a seat at a table away from the bar. He'd watched Brennan and Angela leave just minutes ago and was now anxious to get home to Hannah who was waiting on him to get home. They'd been living together for a month now and knew she'd be awake waiting for him to make love to her when he got home._

"_Make it quick, I've got to get home" Booth had told Hodgins grumpily wondering what the bug man wanted. He looked into his serious face and groaned feeling a lecture coming._

"_Booth, I know what you are doing and I'm not happy, you're hurting Dr B and it's not right!" Hodgins had started defensive of Brennan immediately. He'd known about what happened with them before they'd left for Afghanistan and Maluku, Brennan had actually confided in him, something that had shocked him, but he knew he was the only person other than Booth & Angela that understood her, and sometimes he got her more than they did because he could understand her rational thinking._

"_She rejected me Hodgins, I told her I would move on, this is me moving on!" Booth had said angrily, what right did Hodgins have telling him what he should do with his life. Bones had told him no, that she couldn't change and he'd told her he'd move on, he'd warned her, what right did she have to be hurt about his relationship with Hannah._

"_Booth, man you know her, you know she doesn't work as fast as you do emotionally, you gave her 5 seconds to decide if she wanted to be with you and then when she couldn't you gave up on her, she's hurting Booth, really bad and all you are doing is flaunting Hannah in her face, everywhere she looks Hannah is there, when was the last time you did anything with just Dr B?" Hodgins had asked, his voice getting a little louder as he defended Brennan, he couldn't believe how callous Booth was being about this._

"_What happens between Bones and me, stays between us! I can't believe she talked to you about this, who else has she told?" Booth had yelled, anger flooding his system as he thought about that night, when Bones had rejected him. How he'd waited for her to write to him when she was in Maluku and she hadn't. She'd given up on him, why was he the one getting berated, just because he'd come back with a girlfriend?_

"_She has a right to talk to whoever she wants about things Booth, I understand why she rejected you and believe me since she's gotten back from Maluku she's regretted it, but Booth you know her, you should have waited for her, not brought back some Blonde bombshell to wave in front of her, I know what you are doing, and involving Parker in your scheme, that was low man, I can't believe you did that to her! I can see nothing I say is going to make a difference but Booth, I thought you were better than that, I hope you are happy because you are crushing her and I won't stand by and watch you do that to her" Hodgins had yelled, standing up and pushing Booth with all the strength he had. He grabbed his coat and walked out of the bar, shaking his head in disgust at what he'd witnessed. He vowed that day that he would do all he could to help Dr B, and that when Booth's relationship with Baghdad Barbie as Angela was calling her ended, he would not be supporting him._

_**End Flashback**_

Shaking his head a little as the memory cleared he turned his attention back to Booth and what he'd been saying. He'd missed the first part, but could read the clear worry on his friends face and decided he'd have a talk with Dr B when he got a chance. As he thought over Brennan's symptoms he smiled as it all fell into place. The tiredness, the slight mood swings, not being able to stomach certain foods, he was surprised that Angela hadn't figured it out yet, having experienced those same symptoms herself only 8 months ago.

"I should go wake up Bones and get her to go home, have a great weekend you two and call me, if you go into labour Ange, Bones is going to want to be the first one there" Booth said smiling at the artist as her hand immediately went to her abdomen.

"We will G Man, now go get Bren to go home, and say hi to Hank for us" Angela said ushering Booth out of the room. He quickly walked over to Brennan's office and saw that she was still sleeping, deeply from what he could see. He walked over to the couch and brushed her hair gently from her eyes and then kissed her cheek, smiling as her eyelids fluttered open.

"Booth, what are you doing here?" Brennan asked as she rubbed sleep from her eyes and blinked up at him. A quick glance to the clock on her desk showed it was 4.30pm and she was shocked to realise she'd slept for almost two hours. She'd been doing paperwork and had almost fallen asleep at her desk. Conceding to the exhaustion she was feeling she'd decided it wouldn't hurt to take a nap and figured Booth would at least be happy with her decision. She'd fallen asleep almost immediately not waking until Booth had walked in to wake her up.

"I wanted to see if you needed help with that paperwork, but I think we should get you home and bring it with us" Booth said, hoping his no argument tone would get her to agree with him.

"I should stay and finish it, I didn't realise I'd slept so long" Brennan argued, feeling a bit guilty for wasting two hours with a nap.

"Nonsense Bones, I'm sure Cam wouldn't mind you taking it home, and so long as we complete it over the weekend, it should be fine" Booth tried again hoping she wouldn't continue to argue with him.

"I feel guilty, I've just slept for almost two hours, I should keep working" Brennan argued, as tempted as she was to go home, she had duties to attend to and paperwork wasn't her only duty.

"Dr Brennan, I've told Angela and Hodgins they can leave early for the day, I've sent the interns home early too, and I'm taking the rest of the afternoon off, as your Boss I'm requesting you take the afternoon off too, this was a difficult case and I think we all earned an early start to the weekend" Cam said ducking her head into the office, and then walking out again not allowing Dr Brennan to come back with a retort.

"Look at that Bones, no excuses now, let's go!" Booth said not believing his luck and decided he would send Cam some flowers for that little manoeuvre. He ushered Bones out of the building and spent the rest of the night convincing her to let him pamper her, knowing tomorrow's visit with Pops could be stressful for her, even though he knew the outcome was most likely going to be positive.

The next day they arrived at Pops residence around 11am, both of them had slept in a little due to their late night lovemaking. Bones had experienced a nightmare and consoling her had led to them making love for the next few hours. They'd drifted off to sleep again around 3am and neither had woken until about 9am when his stomach started rumbling making her giggle. He would never get over hearing her giggle, it was such a unboneslike think for her to do. He'd made her breakfast and then shuffled them both out of his apartment and off to see Pops.

"Shrimp! It's about time you and Temperance came for a visit" Hank had called out breaking him out of his musing. He'd felt Bones grip his arm tighter as they'd walked over to Pops and he wrapped an arm around her trying to reassure her.

"So, you two have finally gotten your act together, I'm so happy for you both" Hank exclaimed, taking Temperance into a hug sensing her nervousness and wanting to assure her of his happiness for them straight away. He'd been waiting for this day for years, he'd known from the minute he'd met Temperance that she was the one for his grandson. He just wished both of them weren't so stubborn, and even he'd been disappointed in Booth when he'd come back with Hannah from Afghanistan. When Booth had told him what he'd done after he'd told Temperance of his feelings for her, he'd wanted to berate him and push him to go back to her and undo the damage he'd done, but he'd kept quiet, figuring Seeley would come around eventually and realise what he needed to do to make things right. By the time he'd realised that wasn't going to happen it was too late.

"Thank's Pops" Booth said as Hank let go of Temperance and took his grandson into a big hug. As disappointed as he was in Seeley at that time, he was happy to see them together now, he could see the happiness practically radiating off both of them and it made his heart burst with pride for both of them.

"Now, lets go and get some coffee and you can tell me about how all of this happened" Hank said ushering them both into the visitors lounge. He waved to a couple of his lady friends and then got them all seated at one of the tables, grabbing onto Temperance's hand as they sat down.

"Sweetheart, I can tell this has been a big change for you, how are you holding up?" Hank asked looking at his grandson's partner and smiled at her, hoping to continue to reassure her that he was happy they were together.

"It's been difficult, I- I... lost an intern just before Booth and I decided to give a relationship a chance, and between that and the emotional changes I've experienced since his death, I find I'm drained most of the time, I thought I'd regain some of my energy by now, but I haven't" Brennan admitted, she'd always found Hank easy to talk to, but she was still surprised that she'd admitted so much.

"Seeley, go get us some coffee, I'd like to talk to Temperance alone for a little while" Hank told Seeley, watching as he nodded and went to go get the coffee.

"How far along are you sweetheart and does my Grandson know?" Hank asked, seeing the shock on Temperance's face and smiled, he already knew his grandson was a great father and would be overjoyed to be a father again, but he sensed that Temperance was not as sure about her ability to parent as his grandson. He knew she was going to make a great mother, and knew she'd keep his grandson honest. She was a pistol that one.

"I – I'm not sure, I haven't taken a test and I didn't want to say anything to Booth until I was sure" Temperance told him, wondering how he'd known, when she'd only admitted the possibility to herself a couple of days ago and her only real persistent symptom was the tiredness.

"I'm sorry if I startled you, but I've always had a sense about these things, I knew before my wife did and Seeley's mother when she was pregnant with each of the boys, they hated it" Hank told her, laughing at the memories. He took her hand into his and squeezed it reassuringly.

"You are going to be a great mother Temperance, my boy is very lucky to have you, and don't worry I won't tell Seeley, but you might want to do that test soon, he's going to be very happy" Hank told her, reading all of her fears in her expression. He squeezed her hand again and looked over to see Seeley approaching them with the coffee.

"Pops, you better not be grilling my girlfriend" Booth warned his grandfather jokingly setting down the three cups of coffee onto the table. He squeezed Brennan's shoulder and pressed a kiss onto her cheek, and felt her tremble a little at his touch.

"You okay Bones?" He asked a little concerned, he was only joking but Bones looked shaken by something. He placed his hand on hers and squeezed it, and placed a gentle kiss on her lips hoping his grandfather hadn't really been grilling her. He knew they'd talked about something serious, known it the moment Pops had asked him to go get coffee. He'd delayed his return to ensure they had the time to talk that they'd needed. Pops had obviously seen something in her that had made him need to talk to her privately, and he wondered what it was.

"Yes, I believe so, thank you for getting the coffee" Brennan replied, wanting to kiss him again to reassure him that everything was fine, but not wanting to go overboard in front of Hank.

"Good, so Pops how's the ladies treating you, who are you crocheting with now?" Booth asked, sensing Bones' need for a change in subject and decided his grandfather deserved a bit of ribbing.

They chatted amicably for a couple of hours, talking about work and Parker, Brennan talking excitedly about a science fair she'd assisted Parker in, and his enrichment program at the Jeffersonian. Booth loved listening to his partner talk about his son and it made him long for next weekend when his son would be with them. He couldn't wait to spend the weekend with Parker, and was thinking of asking Bec if he could have Parker one night during the week he didn't have Parker so they could spend some more time together.

When they went to leave Hank took Temperance into another long hug and quietly reminded her that she shouldn't wait to find out, she promised him that she wouldn't and he believed her. He hoped that by their next visit they'd be telling him he was going to be a grandpa again. He watched them walk off hand in hand and smiled, thinking that all was now right in the world now that they were finally together.

_Okay that was a fairly long chapter, I got sidetracked by Hodgins! Next up is the case from The Change in The Game, so we get to meet Baby Hodgins and the revelation of Brennan's pregnancy. There will be a cute little scene between Hodgins and Brennan, as he's figured it out too. Until next time people :)_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Change in the Game**

Sunday morning came around quickly and Booth was up early to go to church. He was showered and had eaten breakfast before Brennan even stirred in the bed. He lingered in the bedroom struggling to decide whether to wake her up or let her sleep. Part of him never wanted to leave her without saying goodbye, but another part of him knew she needed the sleep. He wished she would talk to him about what was going on, she'd been very quiet when they'd gotten home from visiting with Pops and part of him wanted to ask her, the other part, the part that knew her really well, knew she needed some space to digest whatever Pops and she had talked about.

"Booth, what are you doing?" Brennan asked waking to Booth standing over the bed deep in thought. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and then looked up at him again not quite awake yet.

"Sorry babe, I was just deciding whether to wake you or let you sleep, looks like you made the decision for me" Booth told her wryly. He bent down over the bed and placed a sweet kiss on her lips.

"Sleep more if you want to I'm just going to go to church" Booth told her, stroking her hair, happy to see her looking well rested for once. He bent down and kissed her again allowing her to deepen the kiss this time wanting to see her face flushed with passion before he left.

"Now that is a nice way to wake up! I think I will get up, Hodgins said something about wanting to come for a visit today, I'm not sure what it's about though" Brennan told him still a little confused as to why Jack would want to see her. She wasn't very good at relationships, and while she knew a lot about the mechanisms of pregnancy, she couldn't see that he'd need advice about that either.

"He probably wants to check up on you, he warned me once that if I wasn't treating you right he'd make sure I knew about it" Booth chuckled, not really threatened, although the bug man had been able to push him last time they'd had a confrontation, he knew he was much stronger. Although he knew Hodgins wasn't much of a threat to him, he was secretly impressed with the guy. Hodgins had stuck up for Bones when he knew he couldn't because he was the one treating her badly.

"What are you talking about Booth, Hodgins knows you'd never treat me badly" Bones told him, shaking her head not understanding why Booth would say that. She understood that her friends had been protective of her after that night, that she'd revealed her heart to Booth. They'd taken her in that night after she'd called Angela crying so hard she had hardly been able to talk. She'd told them everything because they were her friends and they loved her and she'd needed to tell someone the whole story. She wanted them to understand that she was at fault in this, if she'd just told Booth she'd try when he'd asked her for a chance none of this would have happened.

"It's okay babe, it happened a while ago, and he was right and to be honest I'm happy you have someone other than me looking out for you, it makes me happy to know Hodgins and Angela will be there for you if anything ever happened to me" Booth told her, kissing her again hoping she'd let the conversation drop. He knows they've got everything out in the open now and this would only re-open old wounds.

"Well I guess I'll find out when he gets here, you should go to church, I know you don't like to be late" Brennan told him, not wanting him to leave, but knowing how much church meant to him. She would never deny him the right to attend church no matter how sappy she was feeling.

"Okay Bones, make sure you eat, I'll be back in a few hours" Booth told her dropping a kiss onto her lips as he stood up to grab his suit jacket and leave.

"I love you Booth" Brennan said as she watched him leave, seeing the smile on his face at her words, knowing she didn't need him to return the sentiment to know he loved her. It was strange to her to be so secure in a relationship that was only a month old. She heard the front door close and decided she better get up, she had plans for this morning and wanted to complete them before Jack came over.

She had a leisurely breakfast and read the paper, trying to relax a little before she carried out her plans. Once she'd finished her breakfast she headed for the draw in the bedroom that she'd kept the package she'd bought yesterday when she'd left to get them some dinner after the visit to Pops. She knew now was the perfect time to find out once and for all if she was pregnant. Booth wouldn't be back for hours, so she knew she'd have time to take the test and deal with the results.

Her hands shook as she opened the package and read the instructions thoroughly, she wanted to make no mistakes when taking this test. She'd bought 3 different types to ensure she could check the results and if it was positive she'd be calling her doctor to make an appointment to get further testing carried out tomorrow. Her doctor was always happy to squeeze her in at the last minute. Once she'd read the instructions and was clear on what she needed to do for each test, she opened all three of them and took the sticks with her to the bathroom. She'd purposely drank a good amount of liquid that morning to ensure she'd be able to produce enough urine for the tests.

Once she'd finished in the bathroom she set her watch for the times each test indicated and waited. When the buzzer sounded for the first test she was almost afraid to look, her hands shaking as she picked up the test, with her eyes squeezed shut, she didn't know if she wanted to look. A part of her wanted the test to be positive, she'd wanted Booth's baby for a long time, but she was worried if they were ready for this. The second buzzer went off and she knew she couldn't delay it any longer. She opened her eyes and stared at the test, her mouth slightly open in shock. Positive, it was positive, the little plus sign staring her in the face.

Still shaking, she looked at the second test and saw the same result, this time written as 'positive' on the test. It was the more expensive one she'd bought and she almost jumped when the last buzzer went off. She wasn't sure if she really needed to look at that one after the first two positives, but she looked anyway. The two lines indicating positive stared at her and she finally let herself fall to the ground allowing the knowledge to sink in. Pregnant, she was pregnant with Booth's child. Of course it wouldn't really sink in completely until she'd been seen by her doctor and had the pregnancy confirmed.

A knock on the door roused her out of her thoughts, and she quickly put the tests away and then went to answer the door. She hadn't even realised she'd cried during her discovery but felt the wet feeling on her face and subconsciously wiped the tears away.

"Hey Dr B, are you okay? You look like you've been crying?" Jack asked his friend, he knew both he and Angela hadn't been around as much recently due to Angela being hugely pregnant and not as mobile as she'd like to be anymore. They'd had to focus on the baby, and both of them had figured Booth and Brennan would enjoy some time alone to allow their relationship to develop anyway.

"I – yes I'm okay, come in" Brennan said letting Jack in and leading him into the loungeroom.

"Would you like a drink? Coffee?" Brennan asked, hoping he'd say yes so she had a little time to compose herself.

"Coffee would be great Dr B, let me come help you" Jack said, deciding to et her go to the kitchen alone. He wasn't always that great at reading people, but could definitely tell Dr B needed some space.

She came back a few minutes later, with two cups and handed him a cup of coffee and and smiled as he took a sip and groaned at how good it was.

"How do you make such good coffee Dr B, I need to know your secret, I have a feeling I'm going to need a lot of it soon" Jack said, trying to break the ice with a bit of humour about the coming baby. He was nervous about becoming a father, it was going to be a big change in his and Angie's life, a change for the better but that didn't stop his nervousness.

"You're going to be a great father Jack" Brennan told him, smiling at him. Other than Booth she'd never had another male friend who understood her as well as Jack did. When they conversed alone, she always called him Jack, always had since their ordeal with the Gravedigger. She didn't think anyone really knew how close they were, she loved him like a brother and she had been very happy that he was the man her best friend had chosen to marry.

"Thanks Dr B, that's what I wanted to come to talk to you about actually, I've observed some things and I wanted to talk to you about it" Jack said, unsure of how to begin this conversation. He had no idea of whether Brennan would be happy about being pregnant, or how strong her relationship with Booth was. He knew she loved him, he'd been watching her with him, and watching Booth with her more, looking for any sign that he was going to hurt her.

"I think I know what you are here to talk about Jack, and you are right I – I did the test this morning" Brennan told him, surprising him with this revelation. He had thought he was going to have to convince her to take a test, he'd even brought a couple with him just in case. He'd been prepared to cite all of his observations of her symptoms, but as usual she was ahead of him.

"And? Don't keep me in suspense here Dr B, I know you probably want to tell Booth first, but something tells me you'd like to confide in someone first, to get used to how it sounds" Jack told her, knowing that was why Angie had told Brennan so early on in her pregnancy and not wanted to tell anyone else. She'd told Brennan before she'd even told him, and if he could be Brennan's sounding board right now he would be.

"They were all positive, I won't be 100 percent until I see my doctor, but I feel comfortable admitting that three positive test results makes it very likely that I am indeed pregnant" Brennan admitted to Jack, a tear dropping down her cheek again without her knowledge, saying the words just made it all the more real for her.

"And should I be saying congratulations? Are you happy about this Dr B?" Jack said, placing a hand on her arm letting her know if she wanted comfort he was there for her. When she began to shake a little, he put an arm around her and pulled her into his embrace. He knew what she needed right now was assurance, Booth would be able to reassure her more, but if he knew Dr B as well as he thought he did, she wouldn't be telling him about this until she'd had it confirmed by her doctor. He held her and felt her cry into his chest and while he knew eventually she'd be happy about this baby, it would still be a shock and he knew that right now she just needed time to get used to idea.

They sat that way for a while, neither of them saying anything, Jack just providing what comfort he could. He knew he'd have to get her calmed down before Booth came home or she wouldn't be able to go ahead with her plan of getting the pregnancy confirmed by her doctor before telling him. As a scientist he wanted her to be able to have that confirmation, for her to be able to say to Booth with complete certainty that she was indeed pregnant.

"Dr B, I know this is a lot to take in right now, and believe me both you and Booth are going to walk around for a few days completely dazed at this news, but you are going to be such a great Mum and I know you and Booth will be great parents to this little baby, Angie is going to be so excited when she finds out!" Jack said gently unwrapping his arms from around Brennan and getting her to look at him for a moment. He saw the little smile on her face and echoed that smile.

"Thank you Jack, you don't know how much it means to me that you were here for me, while this is a shock, I have wanted Booth's baby for a very long time and if the pregnancy is confirmed tomorrow, I will be very happy and I hope that Booth will be too" Brennan told him, working to get her emotions under control, she knew Booth would be home soon and if he found her crying, he'd ask her what was was wrong and if he asked that she'd have no choice but to tell him.

"I should go, I told Angie I'd only be a few hours and with her being due any moment I really should be with her" Jack told Brennan, seeing that she was much calmer now. He knew without a doubt that the pregnancy would be confirmed tomorrow and he knew it was going to be a struggle to keep this to himself until Dr B and Booth announced it, but he would keep it a secret for her.

Booth came home an hour later to find her sleeping on the couch. He smiled at how young she looked when she was asleep and grabbed a blanket to put around her. After he was sure she was going to stay asleep he made himself some lunch and then put the television on quietly, switching it to a game of baseball he'd taped the night before.

The rest of the day passed without incidence for either of them, Brennan had gotten her emotions under control and was focused on getting through the day and getting to her doctors appointment tomorrow. She had gotten an appointment very early that morning to ensure that she could leave at her normal time for work, saving her from having to explain anything to Booth.

As she walked into the doctors office the next morning her nervousness was quite apparent. She sat waiting for her name to be called, tapping her foot absent-mindedly hoping her doctor would not be running late. When her name was called she shot up out of the chair and quickly followed the doctor into her office.

"Dr Brennan, it's been a while, what can I do for you?" Dr Louis asked her smiling at her patient. Dr Louis had been her general physician for over 10 years and knew her quite well.

"I think I'm pregnant, I've done three pregnancy tests and all have come back positive" Brennan told her doctor schooling her features to try and hide her nervousness. She had chosen this medical centre because they had an in-house pathology and could get same day results for blood tests. Over the last 10 years she'd donated a fair amount of money to the clinic, to ensure that it kept up with the latest technology, which ensured that she got the best care when she needed it.

"Okay, when was the day of your last period?" Dr Louis asked, typing some information into the computer and organising the paperwork for a blood test. When a woman like Dr Brennan told you something was possible, it was almost certain to be true.

"I was supposed to get my period a week ago to the day, so it was 5 weeks ago" Brennan told her, trying as hard as possible to stay calm. She looked over at the computer and saw that Dr Louis had already ordered a blood test and smiled, this was why Dr Louis had been her general physician for 10 years, no matter how outlandish her requests were Dr Louis was always been happy to indulge her.

"Okay how about you get changed into that gown over there, and I'll do a quick physical examination, then I'll send you off to pathology to get some blood drawn" Dr Louis instructed and left the room to give Brennan some privacy to change. A few minutes later she was back and smiled reassuringly to her patient as she stood over her preparing to undertake the physical exam. She placed her hands on the place where Brennan's uterus would be and felt for any changes that would indicate a pregnancy.

"Now have you noticed any symptoms, nausea, extreme tiredness, more frequent urination?" Dr Louis asked as she continued her examination. She was almost certain that Dr Brennan was indeed pregnant but knew her patient would not be convinced until they had the blood results back.

"I have felt more tired than usual, and I seem to have gone off a few things, like my favourite soup and tea" Brennan told her glad when the physical examination was over. While not painful the experience had been

uncomfortable, especially when Dr Louis had been probing the area where here uterus would be.

"Well Dr Brennan, everything is pointing to you being pregnant, there is a slight enlargement of your uterus which would be consistent with you saying your last period was 5 weeks ago, but I know you won't be satisfied until a blood test is done, so take this with you to pathology, I've put a rush on the results, so you should have them just after lunch" Dr Louis told her as she handed her the paper, got her to sign a form for the visit and left the room to allow her to get dressed.

There was no queue in pathology so the drawing of the blood only took a few minutes and she was walking out of the doctors office, still a little shaken. She was more convinced now that she was pregnant than she had been when she walked in, and knew it was going to be a struggle to wait until after lunch to find out. She was just walking into a cafe to get some breakfast when she got the call from Booth about a body in a bowling alley. Deciding on a bagel and a cup of decaf coffee, she left the cafe quickly and went to go find her car so she could head to the crime scene. She ate as she walked, thinking of Angela and the call she'd had from her that morning professing that the baby would be coming today. Part of her hoped it did, she knew her friend was miserable as the days dragged on without her going into labour and another part of her didn't because she knew if the results of her blood test came back positive she'd want to wait until after the baby was born to tell Booth.

She walked into the bowling alley and saw Booth instructing the techs. She almost walked back out again, convinced he would be able to sense that something was going on with her, but knew for the sake of the victim she had to tough it out and get in there.

"Bones! There you are" Booth said walking over to her and wishing he could kiss her. He'd woken up that morning to her already having left for the day. He hadn't even heard her alarm. He knew they didn't have a case at the time, so he was surprised that she was going in so early, but then remembered the paperwork that they hadn't gotten to over the weekend and figured she was probably feeling guilty about not completing it.

"Booth, what have we got?" Brennan said grabbing some gloves from her kit wanting to get straight into the investigation so Booth wouldn't have time to question her. He didn't answer just directed her to the bowling lane where the body had been discovered. One look told her this was going to be a pretty gruesome body to look at.

"Angela said she's going to have her baby today" She said to him making conversation to keep his mind off the questions she knew were going through his head.

"She's been saying that for the last two weeks" He exclaimed, sensing her tactic and deciding to let her have it, it wasn't as if they could really talk here anyway. He looked at the body closer up and looked away quickly disgusted already by the sight of it.

"Can you say blegh of a strike!"He grimaced when he took in the state of the body. Parts of it were mangled around the pins and it was in chunks, not his favourite way to discover a body. He looked over at Brennan who was kneeling to look at the body and almost swore she went a little green too. She began rattling off some information on the sex of the victim and he took down notes as he watched her examine what she could see of the body. He asked the police officer who had attended to the scene about how long the body could have been there and then they went to examine the rest of the body which had been ground up into the pin setters. He blushed as Bones made an inappropriate comment about sex and then got to organising to have the body shipped to the Jeffersonian. He was about to turn to Brennan to ask her if she wanted to get something to eat when he noticed she was no longer beside him.

He quickly walked out onto the lanes to try and find her and found her coming out of the women's bathroom.

"Bones, you ok?" Booth asked noting she still looked pale and wondered if she'd had breakfast that morning. Knowing her, she'd gotten straight into the paperwork and had completely forgotten to eat breakfast.

"I'm fine Booth, I have to go make sure the body is processed properly at the lab, shall I meet you at the diner for lunch?" Brennan asked him, hoping he hadn't noticed how pale she was, she'd tried valiantly to not throw up when she'd seen the body, and although she knew it was a little early for morning sickness, she'd struggled to keep the nausea at bay during the examination. She'd successfully distracted Booth with a comment about sex long enough to make an escape so she could head to the bathroom in case her stomach decided to rebel on her and was glad she had. Not five seconds after she'd closed the door to the stall, she'd thrown up her breakfast. She'd almost laughed as she realised that Booth had been right, everything happens eventually. She'd finally vomited over a body.

"Okay, I'll meet you at about 12pm, and Bones make sure you eat something you're looking a little pale, did you have breakfast this morning?" Booth asked concerned for her. It was his job to look after her and make sure she ate, and he'd slept through her alarm that morning. If he'd woken up when she had, he would have been able to make sure she ate.

"Ah no I got so wrapped up in work that I forgot, I'll get something on my way to the lab, I promise Booth, you can stop worrying about me, I'm fine" She reassured him and then kissed him, making sure there was no one watching first. He was so surprised by the kiss that she was able to make her escape and head back to the lab, making a quick stop to get some crackers first.

_Okay another longer chapter and I did get sidetracked by Hodgins again, I know we don't see it in the show, but I think he'd be quite protective of her and it would have been nice to see either Angela or Hodgins have a little chat with Booth about his relationship with Hannah on the show. I had to introduce the change in the game, I can't find transcripts for the episode so most of the lines are going to be coming out of my memory of the episode, so if I get them wrong I apologise now! Next up Brennan's chat with Angela and lunch with Max, in the show he knows something is going on with them, but does he know what? Thanks for reading and for the great reviews. _

_Authors note: I have gotten a couple of reviews from a Julianne(Guest) I'm new to this but if you review as a guest I can't respond to your reviews and answer the questions you are posing. If you'd like to talk to me about my thoughts in this story feel free to pm me I'm always happy to discuss motivations etc of the characters :)_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – The Bowler in the Bowling Alley**

Brennan decided to leave Wendell to begin the examination of the body while she went to begin typing up the reports that she knew Booth thought she'd been working on that morning. She was fully engrossed in one when she got a call from Booth telling her that they were going to be meeting her dad, because the victim had been identified as Jeff Fowler who was apparently a member of her dad's bowling team and Booth hoped Max would have some inside information.

She quickly grabbed her coat and headed towards the diner. She was a little concerned about facing her dad, he was able to read her very effectively. She knew he would work out that things were different between herself and Booth, but she hoped he wouldn't figure out that she was pregnant. The last thing she needed was Max telling Booth something she still hadn't quite accepted herself. Thinking of her pregnancy began thoughts of Angela and wondering if her prediction of going into labour today was going to prove true.

She was startled by her phone ringing and didn't realise she'd been so deep in thought, she smiled when she realised it was Angela. She admitted to her best friend that she'd been struggling to think of anything else other than Angela going into labour. It was completely true, but she knew it was true enough that it would keep her best friend from figuring out anything else. She really wanted to tell Angela, she knew she'd be able to help her tell Booth, but somewhere in her heart she knew Booth had to be the first one to know. She really wanted Angela to go into labour, just so she could ask her what it felt like, and while she didn't wish any pain on her friend, a part of her was really looking forward to becoming a metaphorical Aunt.

She hung up with Angela as she realised she was outside of the diner and her nervousness returned as she walked inside, but it was pushed aside when she saw that her dad was in a wheelchair. An 'embarrassing event' in bed he told her, and then when he mentioned the woman he was seeing was 36 she was angry for a moment, she didn't begrudge her dad happiness but she wondered how her mother would feel about her father dating someone just a little older than her daughter. It was decided that she and Booth would go undercover, and Booth wanted her to play his girlfriend. A part of her cringed at that moniker and she later talked Booth into her being his fiance, which even though she didn't believe in the institution of marriage sounded less juvenille that girlfriend. Buck and Wanda were back in action as a bowler and his fiance.

They spent the whole day at the bowling alley, Booth getting hit on by an elder woman, Brennan getting hit on by a butch lesbian and both of them increasingly more annoyed by the young ambitious kid that seemed to be the captain of the team. Brennan was horrified at the thought that a beautiful baby could turn out so horrible. She couldn't stop thinking of it, and worried that her own ambitious nature would end up rubbing off on her own child in that way. She told Booth that they would never have a child like her, even though they were still Buck and Wanda at the time and he agreed vehemently with her. _That's never ever going to happen Wanda_, he'd told her, and even though he'd kept his cover as Buck, part of her felt that he was saying it as Booth too.

"Bones, what has you so deep in thought?" Booth asked as they stood outside the bowling alley, taking a break from the investigation for a few moments. Both of them were getting increasingly stressed by the slow progress of the case and that they knew Angela was now in labour and could give birth at any moment.

"I keep thinking about Amber, I – if I had a child, would she turn out like her?" Brennan wondered out loud, not really talking to Booth but herself. Amber didn't really remind her of herself, but she knew she was competitive, it was the reason she'd received three doctorates before she was 25. She constantly reminded people that she was the best Forensic Anthropologist in the world, she knew she had no real modesty, she had no use for it. Would she impart those qualities onto their child? The fear she was feeling at the moment was making her nauseous, her heart pounding in her ears as she worried about how little she knew about raising children, and just how not ready for this pregnancy she really was.

"Bones, no child of ours will never turn out like Amber, she's a freak of nature" Booth told Brennan trying to reassure her. He'd seen her with Andy, how she'd practically doted over the boy and had struggled to give him up to his new parents in the end. He saw how excited she was about becoming an Aunt to Angela and Hodgins' baby. He knew there was a pile of gifts in her bedroom just waiting to be given to the little guy or girl, the stuffed rabbit they'd bought together had been sitting in his SUV for two weeks now, so that they wouldn't forget to bring it with them when Angela went into labour. Parker adored her, sometimes he thought Parker liked her more than he liked him. She was going to be a wonderful mum, and now he needed to try and convince her of that.

"Bones, when you do have a baby, you are going to be a great mum, and I know that Angela wouldn't be considering you as the godparent for little Hodgins if she didn't think so too, you have such a big heart, any child would be incredibly lucky to have you as their mum" Booth told her and took her into his arms. At that moment he didn't care who saw them, he knew she needed his reassurance. When she'd first asked him to be a sperm donor, part of the reason he'd agreed was so she wouldn't use Fisher's stuff, but the other reason, the bigger reason was that he knew she had a big heart that was just crying out for someone to love. She might have gone about it in a clinical way, but he knew that was because she wanted this baby so much. He had expected her to bring her request up again after he'd been released from the hospital, but she hadn't and he had always wondered why.

"Bones, why didn't you ask me for my stuff again after I was released from the hospital?" Booth asked, pulling away from her far enough that he could look into her eyes.

" Booth, I had just almost lost you, for the second time in less than a year, and when you thought I was your wife and pregnant with your child, the joy in your eyes, I – I just couldn't ask you again, not when I knew how much you wanted a family of your own, and how at that time I couldn't give you that" Brennan answered him, a tear running down the side of her face as she thought of how she'd felt when he had asked her about the baby, how he'd laid his hand on her stomach, completely believing she was pregnant with his child. She'd been unable to cope with it and when the doctors assured her that he was going to be fine, she left for the first dig she could go on. She'd needed to forget that look, because she didn't know at the time whether she'd have been capable of giving him that family.

"When you left, after I was discharged, I wanted to ask you so many times, I wanted to tell you that I was still willing to help if you still wanted a baby, I knew after our discussion that I'd get to be a part of the child's life, but you never mentioned it, I was afraid you had thought I didn't want you to have a baby" Booth told her, looking deeply into her eyes and seeing something in them he didn't recognise. He knew there was something on her mind, but couldn't figure out if it was Angela being in labour, the case, or something else. He wanted to ask her about it and was about to when Max appeared at the door.

"Will you two stop smooching out here and get back inside, its our turn to bowl and Booth you are up first" Max scolded them, smiling as both of them looked at him guiltily. That confirmed it for him and he knew he was going to have a fatherly chat to Booth about taking care of his baby girl. He winked at Booth to let him know that he knew and then wheeled himself inside. He took a quick glance back and smirked as he saw Booth steal a quick kiss. Oh yeah that talk with Booth was over due. He resolved to watch them a little better for the rest of the afternoon and try and figure out how happy his daughter was about this development.

It seemed like hours later that they finally got the final piece of the puzzle and were able to make an arrest. The clerk who had killed Jeff Fowler limped off to the police van after having been kicked in the shins by the freak of nature Amber. Bones had been appalled again by the girls behaviour and had left the scene quickly not wanting to spend another moment around the girl. She waited outside impatiently for Booth as thoughts of Angela filled her mind. She wondered if her friend was in a lot of pain, if she'd had the baby yet, and if their fears for the baby's sight had been well founded or not. She wondered how her best friend would react to her own pregnancy, and wished that there was some way to tell Booth now so that when she visited her best friend in the hospital she could tell her straight away.

"Ready to go Bones? I'm sorry the case took so long, I just hope Angela hasn't had the baby yet" Booth said, his thoughts echoing Brennan's thoughts. He could see how worried Bones was for her best friend and he bustled Bones into the car and took off quickly wishing he could turn on the siren. Angela had been in labour for about 6 hours and there was every chance she was close to delivery, or had already had the baby and they hadn't been informed yet.

"It's okay Booth, we have a responsibility to our victims to gather enough evidence to convict the murderer, Jeff Fowler may not have been a good person, but that still didn't give anyone the right to take his life" Brennan told Booth, making conversation to keep her mind off her growing anxiety for her best friend and about her own pregnancy. She had almost blurted out the truth to Booth during their conversation about the baby that had almost been when he'd developed the brain tumour. It had been extremely difficult to keep the information from him, but she knew that once she told him, his investigative skills would be limited and it was important that they caught the murderer. She also wanted to have the final confirmation from her doctor that she was indeed pregnant.

"You know Bones, that's just one of the reasons I love you, now lets get to the hospital so we don't miss the birth of little Hodgins" Booth said reaching for Bones' hand and squeezing it gently. He was constantly amazed by the dedication of his beautiful girlfriend. Even though he could tell she had not wanted to be there, she had continued with the investigation valiantly. Although she slipped up a few times he was still impressed with her acting skills, she was getting better at undercover, her steep learning curve her biggest asset for undercover work. He'd almost giggled at some of the colloquialisms she'd used during their time at the bowling alley, and although the clothing she'd been wearing was a little tacky it still showed off some of her best assets and he'd been caught staring a few times by Max.

They arrived at the hospital to learn that Angela was in transition and would soon be ready to push. Hodgins had come out briefly to greet Brennan and Booth, but mostly to check up on Brennan. He knew that Angela was about to get pretty loud and considering Brennan's pregnancy he didn't want her to be too worried for her friend, or for herself. He ushered her away from everyone under the guise of a message from Angela so they wouldn't arouse suspicions.

"Is Angela okay Jack?" Brennan asked worriedly, she couldn't work out why Jack was out here, when he should be in with Angela, and was instantly worried something was wrong with Angela.

"She's fine Dr B, a little mad at me and in a fair amount of pain, but she's fine, I – I just wanted to check up on you and to warn you that Angie is going to be a little bit loud in the next few hours, I wanted to make sure you would be okay hearing that, considering you'll be in Angie's position in 8 months time" Jack told her and his statement was punctuated by a cry that came from the room Angela was labouring in. He desperately wanted to get back in there to Angie, but as the only one who knew about Brennan's pregnancy, he just wanted to make sure she was going to be okay. He knew from what he'd seen and from how much pain Angie was in, he was loathe to put her through it again and he could only imagine what would go through Brennan's mind as she listened to Angie's cries.

"I'll be fine Jack, you should get back to her, I'm worried about her and I don't want to hear her in pain, but I know this is part of childbirth and even though it's a bit scary thinking about going through this in 8 months time, I don't want you to worry about me, you've got enough to worry about, go be with Ange and let her know I'm here and thinking of her" Brennan told him, touched by his concern for her, but her primary concern right now was Angela and she wanted him to go to her and support her through this. He watched her for a moment and then they were interrupted by her phone ringing, she nodded towards the birthing room's door and implored him to go while she answered her phone.

"Brennan" She answered and felt her heart pound a little when she realised it was her doctors secretary with the results of her blood tests. She listened as the secretary relayed the results and although she was expecting it, she still trembled a little when the secretary had confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. She hung up the phone and picked the rabbit up out of her bag and almost stumbled to a seat. A cry from the birthing suite startled her and she held onto the rabbit a little more tightly. She felt Booth's eyes on her and gave him her most reassuring smile, but made no move to go to him. She needed time to digest the results of her blood test and come to terms with the fact that she was definitely pregnant. She was going to be a mother. She heard Ange cry out again and paled a little more, her breaths coming a little shorter and sharper as she thought of herself in Ange's position in 8 months time. She was so deep in thought she didn't hear the door open and it was only when Cam gasped that she realised that Jack was walking out of the birthing room holding his child in his arms. She took in the strange blue hat on his head and deduced that they'd had a boy.

"Everyone I'd like you to meet my son, Michael 'Staccato' Vincent Hodgins" Jack told them proudly as he showed them all his son. He was completely amazed by the fact that his son was finally here and that he was perfect, nothing was wrong with his vision. After all the worry and stress over the possibility his son could have been born blind to know he was completely fine was a huge relief. He caught Brennan's eye for a moment and they shared a knowing smile and then he watched her slip into Angela's room to check on her best friend.

"Sweetie" Angela said as she watched her best friend walk in the room. She missed her baby already but she was very happy that Brennan had come in straight away. She wanted to share the experience a little with her best friend, even though she knew she risked an anthropological lesson about childbirth. A part of her hoped that one day her best friend would know the joy of becoming a mother and would allow herself to become part of a family.

"How was it?" Brennan asked timidly, taking in Angela's appearance, she looked tired but there was a glow about her and she looked very happy. She had guessed from the joy on Jack's face that the baby was healthy and his sight was fine, but she was more concerned about what her friend was feeling.

"It was warm, and beautiful, it was a dream" Angela told Brennan sensing her worry for her and wanting to reassure her. Now that the pain was over and the hormones were flooding her system all she felt was happy, a giddy kind of happiness that one only felt when something extraordinary happened in their life.

"This is for you, it's from Booth too" Brennan told Angela assured by her best friends words and the happiness clearly on her face. She watched as Angela took the rabbit and laughed a little at it. After the case with Samantha, she'd insisted that their gift to Angela's baby should be a stuffed rabbit and they'd bought it the very next day.

"Look at this guy, thanks" Angela said, looking at her friend again and seeing something in her eyes she couldn't place. She could sense her best friends relief for her, and her happiness over the birth of their son, but there was more going on there. She observed the anthropologist for a little longer as they both sat there, Brennan completely focused on the stuffed toy. She went to say something to her best friend about her mood, but was interrupted by Brennan standing up.

"I should go, let you get some rest, Michael is beautiful Ange, you did well" Brennan said leaning down to kiss her best friends cheek. She needed to find Booth and get him out of the hospital so she could tell him. She couldn't keep it inside any longer and knew if she stayed in the room any longer with Ange she would blurt it out to her.

"Thanks Bren, for the rabbit and for being here, it means a lot to me, to us" Angela told Brennan sensing her anxiety and making a mental note to ask her about it the next time Brennan visited. She watched as Brennan left the room quickly, and smiled knowing how it felt to want to be with the man you loved every moment of the day. She still felt that way about Hodgins after 6 years.

Brennan and Booth were walking along the footpath after making a hasty exit from the hospital, Booth was watching Brennan quietly and could tell something was bothering her. Assuming it was about the baby or Angela he stopped her and turned her towards him, reassuring her about Michael being healthy, and this being the best day of Angela and Hodgins' life. When he could see that she was still bothered by something he asked her again.

"What" He said simply and then began to worry more as he looked deeply into her eyes and saw a multitude of emotions pass over her face. Some of them he could understand, others he couldn't read.

"I – I'm pregnant" She told him, finally mustering up the courage to tell him, and searched his face for a reaction. Her heart pounded more as he stared blankly at her and she began to worry irrationally that he wouldn't be happy about this development.

"You're the father" She told him, knowing he'd know he was the father, but trying to be reassuring in the only way she knew how, by giving him facts. She watched his face again and it slowly transformed into a smile, which turned into the biggest grin she'd ever seen on his face. She could feel her own smile answering his as she felt relief crash over her that he wasn't upset about this.

"You're pregnant? We're going to have a baby?" He asked and then felt stupid for repeating what she'd just said, but he couldn't help it, to say he was shocked was an understatement. As he stood there waiting for her to respond all of her behaviour today suddenly made sense, the way she'd been terrified her own child would end up like Amber, her profound anxiousness over the birth of Michael, the way she'd reacted to the crime scene and the times she'd stared into space during the case, lost in thought.

"Yes, I saw my doctor today to confirm the pregnancy, I didn't want to tell you until I was sure" She told him and then he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her enthusiastically, cradling her to his chest. Tears welled in her eyes as the relief that everything was going to be okay set in and she shuddered in his arms.

"Are you ok? – I mean, are you happy about this Bones?" He asked feeling that he knew the answer but somehow he needed her to say the words.

"Yes Booth I'm very happy, I've wanted to have your child for a long time, I wanted to be the one to give you a family ever since your coma dream, and I've dreamed of seeing that smile on your face as I told you I was pregnant with your child quite a few times" Brennan told him, it had been everything she had hoped the moment would be. Right down to the smile on his face, it was exactly as she'd imagined it would be.

"Bones, you have no idea how happy you've made me, thank you, I know this wasn't planned, but thank you for giving me a family" Booth said as he took her into a gentle kiss, pouring all of the joy he was feeling at that moment into it. He felt her melt into him and deepened the kiss, and when they broke apart they were both breathless, and both of them had tears in their eyes.

"Did the doctor say how far along you are?" Booth asked curiously as they began walking again, their hands linked together as they made their way back to his SUV.

"About 5 weeks, although I have a feeling I know the moment this baby was conceived" Brennan told him and she knew from the look on his face that he understood what she meant. They both had no doubt that the baby had been conceived the night of Vincent's death, the night they'd both let down their guards and let each other in fully. The night they finally crossed that line that had been separating them.

"So the tiredness, the going off foods, and you being sick this morning, that's all the pregnancy?" He asked, worried for her, he knew she would not like it if he went into full overprotective mode, but it was going to take a lot of effort to not go there, especially in the coming weeks if her morning sickness was bad. He had a sudden vision of her hugely pregnant with his child and a smile came to his face at the thought.

"That's what the doctor said, I have an appointment in three weeks for an ultrasound, we might even be able to hear the baby's heartbeat" Brennan said allowing herself to become excited about the pregnancy now that Booth knew and was happy about it. She'd been fascinated throughout Angela's pregnancy and she was looking forward to reading as many books as she could on pregnancy in the next few weeks. She made a mental note to go to a book store tomorrow to buy her first lot of books.

"I can't wait, now lets get you home it's been a long day and I know someone who is very tired" Booth said ushering her into the car, and heading around to his side. Before he could take a step she grabbed him and pulled her to him, kissing him roughly, passionately forcing her tongue into his mouth and heard him groan at her sudden assault on his senses. She pulled back and smiled at him.

"I'm not tired"

_Okay so going to leave it there. Once again I apologise if I got any of the dialogue wrong from the show, I'm going off my own memory on the words. I also only used certain conversations as if I'd used every scene from this episode this chapter would be 30 pages long! Now onto the un-chartered territory of in between season 6 & 7. We have about 6 months of my imagination to play with! Thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope you are still enjoying this story! Mel_


	9. Chapter 9

**Everything Happens Eventually**

**Authors Note: My apologies for not getting this chapter up sooner, it's school holidays here in Australia and its been very hectic which have left me little time to write. I will be posting up another chapter on Sunday, Australian time to make up for the missed chapter. I really struggled with this one, and the decision whether to make it an easy pregnancy for Brennan or not. Not having much to go on I came up with this :) Mel**

He awoke to a sound coming from the bathroom. He looked next to him and saw that she wasn't in bed with him. He heard the sound again and went to investigate. What he found made him groan in sympathy. Bones was for lack of a better description puking her guts up. He was torn between wanting to go and hold back her hair, and his worry over sympathetic nausea. He'd suffered from it quite a few times, normally around a dead body and he didn't want to make anything worse for her. He knew he was going to have to get used to this, they still had at least a couple of months of this symptom to deal with.

"Bones?" He asked, still torn. She looked up at him and his decision made he rushed over to her as the spasms took over again. He held back her hair as the rest of whatever meagre stomach contents she had emptied themselves into the toilet. She collapsed against him after what felt like a very long time and he picked her up and carried her to the bed. When she didn't protest at all he grew even more worried. Bones was not one who liked being carried around. She fell asleep within minutes of being laid in the bed and he made an executive decision to ring Cam and let her know Bones wouldn't be in that day.

As he watched her sleep, he thought again of the moment she'd revealed her pregnancy to him. That was two weeks ago, and while the nausea had still been present after that day, this was the first day he'd woken to her puking her guts up. He was sure she'd have some scientific term for it, and the thought brought a smile to his face. He decided that since he was up and she was sleeping he'd do some research on morning sickness and maybe he'd find a way to help her through this stage.

She woke about two hours later to the smell of breakfast cooking and ran immediately to the toilet. After a few minutes she walked back out again unsteadily and collapsed back onto the bed. She was about to reach for her phone to call Cam, when Booth walked in carrying a tray, that looked to contain breakfast.

"Booth, can you please take that tray out of here now please" Brennan asked, breathing steadily through her nose and mouth and brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. He looked at her uncertainly before walking out of the bedroom and depositing the tray back into the kitchen. He walked back into the bedroom to find her lying on the bed again still holding her hand to her nose.

"Bones, I am sorry if you think this was over stepping my bounds, but I called Cam and told her you weren't coming in today, and I've called my boss and told him I'm out today too" Booth told her, waiting for her to argue with him, or have a go about his Alpha male behaviour.

"Thank you Booth, I was going to call Cam myself, in fact I was wondering if you could drive me to my doctor later on, I want to see if I can get a script for some anti-nausea medication" Brennan told him, looking up into his shocked face and giving a sheepish smile. She knew he was expecting a different reaction, but she really did not feel well and knew it was best to do something about it.

"Of course, do you really feel that bad?" Booth asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking her hand in his. Bones never wanted to go to the doctor, never called in sick willingly and the thought that she was not fighting him on this was a bit unsettling.

"It's definitely not a walk in the park, did I get that right?" Brennan asked, not sure if she'd used the right euphemism. She knew she had to get this nausea under control or she wouldn't be able to return to work. They hadn't had a case in the two weeks since the murder at the bowling alley, so she'd been able to stay away from the smell of decomposition, but she knew a case would come eventually, and if she threw up at a crime scene, she'd feel humiliated especially after telling Booth she'd never thrown up over a body before and was unlikely to ever do so. She remembered his response to her. _Everything happens eventually Bones._

"Do you think you could eat some crackers? We need to get something into you? Booth asked, jumping up from the bed and heading out to the kitchen to see if she had any crackers. He had never seen her eat them before, but everyone had crackers right? He heard her calling out to him and figured she must be the only person he knew that didn't eat them.

"No crackers huh?" Booth asked, smirking at her and cursing her vegetarian extremely healthy diet. He didn't want to leave her to go to the shop to get some, now that he'd gotten over his worry about sympathetic nausea, he wanted to make sure he was here to hold her hair back, and hold her up if the nausea got really bad.

"I think I could probably manage a piece of dry toast?" She suggested, knowing the plainer the better was what she was always told to eat when she'd had an upset stomach, which admittedly didn't happen often.

"One piece of toast coming up" He announced and then walked out to go make the toast. Her phone rang as he was walking out and she grabbed it and answered it without checking the id.

"Sweetie?" Angela asked, worried for her friend. Brennan never called in sick.

"Ange, I'm here, what's going on?" Brennan asked, having a fair idea of why her best friend was calling, but not sure she could explain it to her. They'd decided not to tell anyone about the baby before she was past the first trimester, and she was still only 7 weeks pregnant.

"Cam told me you weren't coming in today, I was worried about you, are you ok?" Angela asked thinking maybe she should have just come over instead of calling. Brennan was notoriously hard to read on the phone.

"I'm fine Ange its just a stomach bug, Booth is looking after me" Brennan told her friend wanting to allay her concerns.

"Booth huh? Wow never thought I'd hear you happy about Booth looking after you" Angela remarked, extremely happy for her friends but even more suspicious now that she knew Booth was there looking after her sick friend. As much as she knew love could change a person, she knew Brennan had not changed her view on women being able to take care of themselves.

"Ange, I'm fine! I'm going to the doctor and I'll be back at work tomorrow" Brennan told her, getting a little annoyed now, she knew Angela knew her better than most and could already hear the suspicion in her voice over her explanation.

"Okay, but let me know if you need anything, are you sure you don't want me to come and stay with you so Booth can go to work?" Angela asked, knowing the answer already but asking because she knew it would show Bren she cared.

"No Ange, I don't want you getting it too and passing it onto Michael, newborns are very fragile and I don't want him getting sick" Brennan countered, thanking her genius brain for it's quick thinking.

"Okay sweetie, but you make sure you do everything Booth asks you to, he loves you sweetie and he'll take good care of you I know he will" Angela told her, hoping for once her friend would listen to her body and rest when she needed to. Although she'd been caught up with being a new mum, when Brennan had come over to visit them after Michael's birth, she could see that the exhaustion her friend had been suffering from before his birth was still present, and she was worried for her.

"I will Ange, I – I have to go" She said, hanging up quickly before getting off the bed quickly and rushing to the bathroom. Booth walked into the room with her piece of toast and noticed she wasn't on the bed. Groaning in sympathy again he set the plate down and rushed into the bathroom just in time to catch her as she collapsed, her stomach finally settling from the heaving. They sat there for a few minutes, while she recovered and then when she knew her stomach had settled enough, she gingerly got up and walked over to the bed.

"I did some research and ginger is supposed to help with nausea too, so while you're eating that toast, I'm going to duck up to the shops and grab some tea with ginger in it and some crackers, just eat what you can Bones, hopefully you'll be able to keep it down" Booth told her, stroking her cheek, worried about the pallor of her skin.

"Okay Booth, but once my stomach's settled I want to go to the doctor, if the morning sickness is going to be this bad, I'm going to need some help and I won't do anything to jeopardise this pregnancy or my health" Brennan told him, hoping that would help sooth his concerns. She could go on about how women have been having babies for centuries and dealing with morning sickness and not needing help, but she decided to trust her best friend and take her advice. Although she knew experiencing morning sickness was a very good sign that the pregnancy was going well, that her hormone levels were high enough to sustain the pregnancy, she also knew that if she wasn't able to keep fluids down, that the risks to her and the baby were high, dehydration was not good for either of them.

"You amaze me, I really thought you'd fight my help, but I'm glad your not, I'll be back in 20 minutes" Booth said kissing her gently and pointing towards the plate. "Try and eat Bones" he said and then walked out the door.

She looked at the plate set next to her and lifted the piece of toast to her mouth and took an experimental bite. She decided slow and steady would be the best approach, not wanting to upset her stomach. She noticed that Booth had also brought in a glass of water and took a sip, carefully. She finished the toast slowly and managed half the glass of water before exhaustion took over her.

When he got back to the apartment he found her sound asleep, and smiled at the half empty glass of water and the empty plate. Maybe they weren't so bad at this after all. He resolved to do some more research while she slept, his protective instincts kicking into gear. He was so absorbed in his research that he didn't hear her come up behind him and wrap her arms around him.

"Hey Bones, feeling better?" Booth asked leaning back into her embrace.

"A little, I kept the toast and the water down, which is a good sign" Brennan answered, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead before heading over to the couch and sitting down. She still felt like she could sleep all day, even though she'd already slept well over the amount she normally slept.

"Feel up to going to see the doctor? The sooner we get the medication, the sooner you'll feel better" Booth said, giving her one of his famous charm smiles. After all the reading he'd just done, he had a better idea of how she must be feeling. He'd had no idea it was so hard to make a baby. After reading all the symptoms she could be experiencing, he wished he could take some of them away from her, it was very obvious that she was not going to have an easy time of it and a part of him felt guilty for putting her into this position.

"It doesn't quite work that way Booth, the medication won't cure my morning sickness, it will just lessen the severity, I only want the medication to use if we get a case or if the morning sickness is severe enough that I can't keep anything down" Brennan explained, and looked up into his worried brown eyes.

"It's normal Booth, in fact it's a good sign that I'm experiencing morning sickness, it means my body is producing enough human chorionic gonadotropin to sustain the pregnancy, there's nothing to worry about" She told him as she kissed him gently, trying to reassure him that everything was fine.

The visit to the doctor went quickly, as she suspected the doctor was reluctant to prescribe her medication for the nausea, but when she explained the nature of her job, the doctor gave in on the provision that she would only take the medication if the nausea was severe enough to prevent her from keeping any food or water down, or if she was going to a crime scene that involved a decomposing body.

When they got back to the apartment, Booth suggested a movie marathon on the couch, and while she was feeling well enough, some lunch. He made her some of the ginger tea and then both of them a grilled cheese sandwich whichshe ate slowly and carefully. When it seemed that it was going to stay down they retired to the lounge for a marathon of the Twilight Saga, Booth claiming it was a great love story that he believed she would appreciate due to the opposite nature of the characters.

She fell asleep during the second one and as much as he wanted to pick her up and take her to bed, he knew she would be happier if he left her where she was. He didn't want to be one of those guys that wrapped his pregnant partner up in cotton wool. He knew if he did that, he would begin to drive her away and so he vowed to himself to fight the instinct to as much as he could.

He knew it was going to become more difficult to fight as the pregnancy progressed but he also knew that she needed to be independent, and he knew he needed to have a chat with his boss, about making sure they didn't immediately remove her from the field when they found out she was pregnant. He knew she'd eventually stop going out into the field, when she got further along, of her own accord, because she loved him and she already loved this baby. He trusted that she would never want to put him in danger and would understand that there would come a time when she would not be mobile enough to be out in the field, but he'd do his best to let her choose that time, no matter how nervous he got.

The next day she awoke to the nausea again, but with a cup of the ginger tea and a few crackers after the first round she was able to cope enough to go to work. Booth was worried about her, and wondered if they should tell Cam so that she could keep an eye on Bones while he was at the Bureau. He almost mentioned it when he dropped her off at the lounge but stopped himself before he made the suggestion, realising it would not be a good idea to suggest that she wouldn't take care of herself.

She walked into he office after Booth had dropped her off and was startled by seeing Ange on her couch waiting for her.

"How are you feeling Bren?" Ange asked, taking in the sight of her friend. She still looked pale, but she did look like she'd been sleeping a bit better. She wondered if her friend would actually confide in her of if she was going to have to drag it out of her. After hanging up with Brennan yesterday after their conversation she put all of Brennan's symptoms into her computer, worried something more than a stomach bug was going on with her friend. When the first result that came up was pregnancy, it instantly clicked in her mind. The exhaustion, the stomach bug, the way she'd acted when she'd come to see her after she'd given birth to Michael, the way she'd been completely enamoured with her metaphorical nephew, the glow she'd seen in her best friend when holding Michael in her arms. It all fit, Brennan was pregnant and after having a chat with her husband who had then admitted his own suspicions, she was convinced.

"Better Ange, why are you in my office?" Brennan asked curiously, she knew her friend was worried about her, and wondered how long it would take before Ange would figure it out, whether she'd be able to get to the end of her first trimester without her best friend figuring it out. She went to walk over to her desk to sit down when the nausea rose up again and she rushed out of her office to the ladies bathroom, her best friend hot on her heels. She threw open the stall and didn't bother to lock it in her haste to get to the toilet.

"Oh Sweetie, that's it get it all out, you'll feel better later" Ange said, soothing her friend as she emptied her stomach. Once the spasms stopped she collapsed back against her friend exhausted, and smiled at Angela's attempt at trying to comfort her. She was a good friend and she wanted desperately to tell her about the pregnancy, but she'd agreed with Booth when he told her it would be best if they waited till the first trimester was over before telling people.

"Let's get back to your office and then we can talk" Angela said, helping her best friend get shakily to her feet and then helped her back to her office. She quickly jogged back to her office to see if she had some of the ginger tea that she'd used when she was pregnant with Michael and a box of crackers.

"So sweetie, are you going to tell me how far along you are and please tell me the baby is Booth's?" Angela asked Brennan, seeing the shock on her face and smirked.

"The nausea?" Brennan asked, wondering what had given her away and then wondered how long it would take other people to figure it out. Angela was pretty tuned into her, unlike most people in the lab, but Cam was a smart woman, she wondered how long it would take her to figure out that her forensic anthropologist was pregnant.

"Among other things, now are you going to answer my questions?" Ange asked a little impatient for confirmation of her suspicions.

"Yes Ange, I'm pregnant, seven weeks and yes the foetus is Booths" Brennan answered and then was engulfed in a hug by Angela.

"Sweetie this is so great, we'll be raising our kids together, I bet it will be a girl" Ange said getting excited about the prospect of becoming an Aunt.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Ange, but Booth and I had decided to wait until I was past my first trimester" Brennan said, stuck on what Ange had said about the foetus being a girl. Although she'd yet to think past the acceptance of being pregnant, the thought of whether she was having a boy or a girl weighed suddenly on her mind. When she'd wanted to get pregnant via artificial means, she always seen herself having a boy. It was a boy she'd imagined, with curly locks and Booths soulful brown eyes, the possibility of having a girl hadn't even crossed her mind. Now that she was actually pregnant, both possibilities appealed to her just as greatly. She tried to imagine what her daughter would look like and a picture formed in her mind.

"Sweetie?" Angela called trying to get her attention.

"Oh sorry Ange, I was just thinking" Brennan responded as she shook off her thoughts and focused on her friend.

"It's okay Bren, I am sure you have a lot on your mind, what was Booth's reaction when you told him about the baby?" Ange asked curiously.

"I don't think I've ever seen him smile so wide Ange, he was very happy" Brennan answered, smiling at the memory of that day.

"And you sweetie, are you happy about this baby?" Angela asked, not sure of how her friend would answer. She knew Brennan had wanted a child for a long time, knew she'd put that desire on the backburner after Booths coma and then after their separation and Booth's return with Hannah, she'd confessed that she'd given up on the possibility that she would ever have a child. A part of her even then had known that the only child she wanted to give birth to was Booth's child.

"I was scared at first, before I told Booth, I wasn't sure if we were ready for this, but now that we've had some time to get used to the idea I find I'm very happy Ange, I'm ready for this, for this life" Brennan answered a smile on her face as her best friend took her into her arms again and they both laughed and then cried a little.

"I'm so happy for you Bren, this is all I've ever wanted for you, to be happy and to be able to have the family that was taken away from you" Angela told her friend hoping she could see the joy in her eyes.

"You are going to be such a good mum sweetie, and Booth with a little baby in his arms, swoon! I almost swoon when I see Michael in his arms, all that muscle wrapped around a tiny baby, it's addorable" Ange said getting quite excited about all of this.

"Just don't let your husband hear you say that too often" Hodgins said as he walked into the room, with Michael in his carrier. He set the baby carrier down and looked at his wife and friend. From the way they were sitting he suspected that Brennan had confirmed her pregnancy to his wife and he wanted to congratulate his friend also.

"Congrats Dr B, you are going to be a wonderful mum" Hodgins said smiling at the woman he admired so much. He handed over the little booklet he'd comprised on all the symptoms of pregnancy she would experience and all the natural remedies she could use for each symptom. As soon as he'd realised she was pregnant he'd begun compiling this booklet, wanting to offer his own way of helping.

"Thank you Jack, this is going to be very useful, Booth has been researching quite a lot, but I don't think natural remedies were on his list" Brennan said getting up off the lounge and hugging Jack. She whispered that she loved him too, an echo of another hug from just over a year ago when he'd made her another booklet, this one a list of different bugs, snakes and other animal life that she could expect to deal with in the Maluku Islands.

"Bones!" Booth called as he walked into the lab. He walked straight into her office and stopped when he noticed she wasn't alone.

"What is it Booth?" Brennan asked as she moved away from Jack and sat down in her chair.

"We've got a case"

_Leaving it there. Now how will Brennan deal with the case in light of her morning sickness? Will we actually see her get sick over a dead body? Keep reading to find out. Thanks for reading!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note: **My apologies for the delay in getting this chapter out I had hoped to be able to get an extra one out after the delay of the last one, but life didn't give me that chance. Thank you as always for reading. Now onto the case!

**Chapter 10 – That which has not occurred before**

" A case?" Brennan asked, staying seated as a wave of nausea hit her. She breathed deeply through her nose and out her mouth in an attempt to calm her stomach and smiled when Ange offered her a box of Saltines. She grabbed a couple of crackers out of the box and nibbled on one, relieved when the nausea began to settle.

"Yes, it's a gross one from what I've been told, Cam is already headed out there but we were told there was enough bone present for you to be needed, are you sure you're up to this?" Booth asked concerned for her, he knew her independent streak was likely to rear it's head and as much as he would love to convince her to send an intern, he knew that there was no one more qualified to examine the body than Bones.

"I am confident I will be able to control the nausea, let me just take one of the tablets the doctor prescribed me and I'll be all yours" Brennan reassured him, finishing off the crackers and heading for her bag to get the bottle of anti-nausea pills she'd been prescribed. She took one without water and grabbed the box of crackers and her coat and joined him at the door.

"Be careful sweetie, please let Booth take care of you" Ange said, her tone serious as she implored her best friend to take her advice. All of her instincts told her that Brennan was going to have a rough time with morning sickness and she hoped that her stubborn best friend would listen to her this time. Part of her wanted to go to the crime scene with them, but she knew she wouldn't be of much help, plus she was only helping out at the lab for a couple of hours when needed while Michael was still a newborn.

"I'll do my best Ange" Brennan responded and followed Booth out of her office, hoping that the medication would do it's job. She couldn't think of anything more embarrassing, than if she lost her breakfast over a dead body.

They drove to the crime scene in relative silence, Brennan still feeling too off colour to really hold up much of a conversation, the car ride not helping much. Booth kept looking over at her nervously, he didn't like it when she was quiet, but he couldn't seem to draw her out. Finally after a 45 minute drive they finally reached their destination, the back of a run down warehouse. Booth was not happy about the location and he scoped out the place to ensure that none of them were in danger. After a few minutes he was satisfied that they were in no danger. Nodding at Brennan they both headed for the crime scene, ducking under the police tape as Booth began speaking with the officer who greeted them.

"Hi, my name's Lieutenant John Jacques, the body was discovered by that man over there about two hours ago, his name is Lucas Mitchell, says he used to work in this area and lives in an estate over the hill over ,there, was out for a walk when he stumbled, literally over the body" Lieutenant Jacques informed Booth and Brennan, who looked over at the man standing on the other side of the police tape talking to another officer. To Booth's eyes he looked fairly shaken up so he was pretty certain he wasn't a suspect, but he'd need to take him down to the Bureau later for questioning.

"My name's Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner, Dr Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute, she's here to examine the body, along with Dr Cam Saroyan, is she here?" Booth asked, not having seen Cam near the body.

"Ah yeah, she took a quick look at the body, but I think she was just as grossed out as all of us were, she took off around the back of the warehouse not long after, I don't think she was feeling all that well" Lieutenant Jacques told them both and then went off to join his partner who was questioning the witness.

"Maybe you shouldn't examine the body Bones, if Cam reacted to it, it can't be good" Booth suggested worriedly, he'd never known Cam to actually become ill over a body before either and the prospect of having to look at this body, was not something he was looking forward to.

"I'll be fine Booth, the anti-nausea medication seems to be dropping in, I'm feeling much better" Brennan re-assured Booth.

"It's kicking in Bones not dropping, and I'm not so sure you're fine, you look a little pale to me" Booth told her, taking in the paleness of her face and the sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

"I'm fine Booth" Brennan said, beginning to get annoyed. She could compartmentalise she was sure of it, despite whatever he saw on her face, she was feeling better than she had this morning and she wasn't going to give in to this sickness, she was going to do her job and she was going to do it well. Without giving him a chance to respond, she walked over to where the body was, took one look at it and knew she wasn't fine. Nausea rose up out of her so quickly she didn't have time to find anywhere else to run to and she threw up on the spot. Thankfully she managed to be far enough away from the body to not contaminate it, but she could feel her cheeks flaming in embarrassment as the nausea kept washing over her. When she finally had it under control she rose shakily, walked past Booth as quickly as she could and got into the SUV. She laid the seat back and breathed in slowly through her nose and out her mouth until the nausea was finally gone.

"Bones?" Booth asked as he opened her door. He was shocked, but knew he needed to work out what was going to happen so he could get things rolling and get her back to the lab.

"I'm sorry Booth, I can't examine that body, you're going to have to ship it to the Jeffersonian as it is, and have my interns deal with it until all the flesh has been removed" Brennan told him, still a little mortified, but exhaustion was slowly winning over that emotion.

"I'm just going to rest here until you've packed everything up" Brennan told him, her eyelids already drooping, within seconds she was fast asleep. Booth looked at her worriedly, and gently brushed some hair away from her eyes. Looking quickly around to see if anyone was looking he kissed her forehead and set off to find Cam and give the crime scene techs, and police officers instructions.

"Cam!" Booth called, searching for his old friend, still baffled by the fact that the two women he thought would never throw up at the site of a dead body, had just done that.

"Booth?" Cam called from her spot near the wall. She was totally mortified and didn't think she could face all the crime scene techs she normally gave a hard time to about losing their lunches over dead bodies.

"You ok?" Booth asked, taking in the pathologist sitting against the wall of the warehouse, still looking a little shaky.

"That has to be the grossest body we've ever examined, I can't believe I actually threw up over a dead body, I'm supposed to be immune to gore and bad smells" Cam told Booth, slapping his arm when he grinned out her boyishly.

"As I told Bones, everything happens eventually, if it makes you feel better you're not the only one who was sick due to the body" Booth reassured her, pointing to his SUV where Cam could make out Dr Brennan, who looked like she was asleep in the front passenger seat of the SUV.

"Is she okay? Dr Brennan really threw up over a body?" Cam asked, incredulous of all the people she thought would be able to handle this body, Dr Brennan was definitely the one. She looked up at Booth worriedly, this was not like her friend and she was worried about the implications.

"Yes Cam, this is normal apparently" Booth said, smirking wanting to let Cam figure it out, they hadn't discussed telling anyone about the baby, but seeing as Angela and Hodgins knew, he didn't think they'd be able to keep it a secret for much longer, especially if Bones' morning sickness was going to continue to be this bad.

"Normal?" Cam asked, looking at Booth and seeing a slight smirk on his face and then it registered, why Dr Brennan being sick would be normal, and she slapped Booth on the arm again, shocked but happy for them both. Despite them only having been together for a short time, she knew that this would be good for them.

"Dr Brennan is pregnant? Seeley why didn't you tell me! I would have requested she not come, how far along is she?" Cam asked, hitting him with question after question. She couldn't believe he'd actually let her come to the crime scene, Booth was normally very overprotective of Dr Brennan, even when they hadn't been together, any possible weakness on her part and he would have insisted she stay behind for his safety and hers.

"Yes Cam she's pregnant, 7 weeks and I didn't tell you because Bones and I are still coming to terms with it ourselves, and before you say anything you know I wouldn't have been able to stop her coming, I did suggest she stay behind at the lab, but she insisted she was feeling fine, she took some anti-nausea drugs before we left and I'm doing my best to not be too overprotective of her, what we have is still so new, I don't want to scare her away, it's been a lot to take in" Booth explained, running his hands through his hair. He looked over at his SUV and saw Bones was still sleeping and he hoped she'd stay that way for a while, at least long enough for the morning sickness to go away. She'd been better by the afternoon yesterday and he hoped it would stay the same today.

"Congratulations Seeley, you are going to be great parents, now is she ok? Should we wrap this up so you can get her back to her apartment?" Cam asked, standing up feeling much better now that she'd had time away from the body. She was still concerned for her colleague and friend, but she knew she was in good hands with Booth.

"I told her I'd take her back to the lab, she's exhausted but I know she will want to be involved with the case, she requested that the interns deal with the body while it is fleshy and she'll examine the bones once they've been cleaned" Booth advised Cam, as they began walking back towards the crime scene. The body had thankfully been bagged and was being lifted onto the coroners van to be driven to the Jeffersonian.

"Okay well, I'll meet you both back at the lab then, see if you can get her to eat something light, and get her to take another nap, we will probably be a couple of hours with the body, you know how Hodgins is" Cam laughed, as she pulled him into a hug.

"Congratulations again Seeley, I'm very happy for you both, it's taken you two a long time to get here and I'm glad you're finally getting it together, but can I give you one piece of advice, as one of your oldest friends" Cam asked him, holding a hand up when he went to interrupt her.

"Seeley, I once advised you not to tell her you love her unless you were sure, I can see you are both well past that stage now, but Seeley whatever you do, don't propose to her, let her take that step, I can't say how I know it, but I know she will ask you one day, if you have the patience to wait for her" Cam told him, waiting for him to get angry with her, she knew his track record with proposals, and she knew he was a romantic at heart, and the very notion of letting the woman in his relationship be the one to ask, would not sit well with him, but she hoped he listened to her, because she'd gotten to know Dr Brennan pretty well over the years, after their initial issues and she knew the anthropologist often voiced her reluctance to believe in a concept such as marriage, but after all the changes that had occurred within her friend, she knew she would eventually come around to the idea if Booth gave her time and space to think about it.

"Relax Cam, I have no intention of asking Bones to marry me, and it's not because of my track record, Bones has already given me so much, I don't need to be married to her to know I'll be spending the rest of my life with her, and I know that somewhere in there, she believes that too, you know she was the first one of us to say I love you" Booth told Cam, immensely proud of the woman he loved. He couldn't believe how far she'd come, from the woman he'd met in a lecture hall all those years ago.

"Wow, that is big Seeley, she's really coming out of that shell of hers, now go take her to the lab and take care of her, but let her have some control over things too, I know you're overprotective tendencies must be screaming at you right now, but you know what's she's like and if she has to fight you to let her do things, it's going to cause more stress for her and the baby" Cam told him, hoping he'd take her advice. She knew she and and Angela would do their best to make sure that Dr Brennan took things easier, and looking over at the sleeping woman, she had a feeling Dr Brennan wasn't going to resist as much as they thought she would.

"Thanks Cam, I will take all the advice I can get, I have a feeling this is only the tip of the iceberg" Booth said , squeezing Cam's arm and then he walked over to the SUV. As he got in he saw Brennan stir, and smiled at how beautiful she looked when she was just waking up.

"Booth" Brennan said, still half asleep, and fighting to keep her eyes open. She wanted to know what had happened with the body and if Cam was okay, but her body wasn't co-operating with her.

"It's okay Bones, you go back to sleep and we'll talk about all this when we get back to the lab" Booth assured her, stroking her face and placing a soft kiss on her lips, before starting up the car and driving away from the scene.

When they got back to the lab he ushered her into her office, hoping the body hadn't arrived and was thankful to see it hadn't. He grabbed the package of crackers and handed them to her, and settled her on the lounge with another soft kiss.

"I'm just going to make you some of that ginger tea, you just relax here and I'll be back in a few minutes" Booth told her, happy to see her comply with his wishes. Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as he thought. When he got back with her tea, he could see she was dozing lightly and hated to disturb her, but he knew the tea would help her feel better.

"Thank you Booth, I appreciate you taking care of me, but don't expect me to be as co-operative for the whole of my pregnancy, I'll only let you treat me like an invalid, while I feel like one, I can't believe how tired I am" Brennan told him, unnerved by the pervasive exhaustion she was experiencing. She wondered how she was going to cope with another couple of months of this, and hoped it wasn't going to get any worse.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Bones, it would feel wrong if you didn't fight me on everything" Booth teased, and was happy to see her smile with him. She was getting better at telling when he was teasing her, and when he was being serious, and he smiled with pride, thinking again of how much she'd changed.

"So, how are we going to run this Bones, will you be okay in your office with the body out there? Do you want me to take you to lunch, and distract you while it's being examined?" Booth asked, thinking of how far Brennan's office was away from the platform and if it was likely that the smell from the body would permeate her office.

"Booth, the examination tables have ventilation and so does the whole forensic platform, the likelihood of the smell of the body reaching me here in my office from the forensic platform is highly unlikely, I'll be fine, you should go back to work, I know you need to interview the witness and speak with the police officers from the scene, please Booth go" Brennan requested, knowing that if Booth stayed she wouldn't get anything done, and there was more to her work than dead bodies, she still had reports to write up and she really needed to get started on a couple of chapters from her next book.

"Okay Bones, I get it I'll leave you to your work, but I'll be back in two hours to take you to lunch, no arguments" Booth told her, not giving her a chance to respond as he kissed her gently and then left her office.

The rest of the day passed in a much better fashion than it begun, Brennan had managed quite a bit of paperwork before Booth came to get her for lunch, and she was able to keep down her soup and toast that she'd ordered. She and Booth talked animatedly through lunch, and she was confident that the nausea had settled completely for the day. She was looking forward to beginning examination of the bones, once they'd been cleaned, as she was still feeling bad about how she'd needed to leave the crime scene that morning. She was going to suggest to Booth and Cam that during the rest of her first trimester, when the morning sickness would be at it's worst, that she stay in the lab and only participate in examining the bodies once they'd been cleaned. She didn't want to take the risk that she'd compromise a scene due to her morning sickness and this seemed to be the most rational solution.

The examination of the body took a lot longer than they were expecting due to the amount of decomposition and the damage to the soft tissue of the body. From what Cam could see, they were definitely going to need Dr Brennan's expertise with this one. The intern of the week, was Wendell Bray and he went to inform Dr Brennan of what they'd learned so far, and what would be happening next.

"Dr B? We've finally finished examining the body and I've begun the de-fleshing process on the body, but unfortunately the bones won't be cleaned until tomorrow" Wendell told her, hoping his mentor would not be displeased at the amount of time that was going to pass before she'd get a chance to examine the bones.

"Tell me what you found Mr Bray" Brennan requested, looking up from her computer screen to listen to her intern. She considered Wendell to be one of her brightest students and she was always happy when he came up on the rotation. He was thorough, very intelligent and although she knew he admired her greatly, he wasn't prone to squealing in her ear every time he witnessed her brilliance, like Daisy did or breaking into facts like Mr Nigel-Murray had done when he was nervous. Thinking of Vincent still caused her pain and she quickly brushed the thought away, so she could concentrate on what Wendell was telling her.

"Its a male in his early twenties, severe trauma to several places of his body, the back of his skull is in pieces, which will possibly make facial reconstruction difficult, from the x-rays he has a fractured right clavicle, left proximal humerus, and his left tibia and fibula are also fractured, due to the amount of tissue still left on the body we can't determine a cause of death at this stage, although I'm sure the injuries we have found would have been quite painful, all the fractures were ante-mortem" Wendell told her, handing her the envelope with the x-rays, so she could take a look herself. She held them up to the light and assessed them. She was pleased to see that Wendell had gotten it completely right and made a mental note to ensure that she talked with Dr Saroyan about how well he was doing.

"I agree Mr Bray, once the bones are clean, can you begin work on reconstructing the back of the skull so that I can work on the rest of the bones, once you've finished reconstructing the skull, I want you to begin the tissue depth marking for Angela, so she can start searching for our victim, excellent work Mr Bray, I'll check with Dr Saroyan, but I think it's safe to say you can finish for the day" Brennan told him as the length of the day began to catch up with her. She looked at her watch, surprised to see it was already six pm and stifled a yawn. She was looking forward to getting home and relaxing on the couch with Booth, maybe even watching the third of those vampire movies he insisted she watch.

"Thank you Dr Brennan, I'll go and check with Dr Saroyan if she needs me for anything else, oh and Dr Brennan, congratulations on the baby, you and Booth are going to make beautiful kids" Wendell told her, smiling at the look of shock on her face.

"How did you know?" Brennan asked, and wondering how many other people knew, and whether Booth had told them. They'd not formally decided if and when they were going to tell people, and as much as she'd like it to stay between them for now, it looked like she wasn't going to get that wish.

"My mum is a midwife, I know the signs pretty well, and well I've never known you to back away from examining a body, whether there is flesh on the bones or not" Wendell said grinning at her and surprised to see her grinning back.

"Thank you Mr Bray, you are very observant, a quality that will do you very well in this profession" Brennan complimented him, immensely pleased that she'd made the decision to fund his scholarship after his had been cancelled. He was becoming a great asset to the team and had managed to integrate further into their 'family' than any other intern. Mr Nigel-Murray might still have been her favourite intern, but Wendell was the most dependable, and the most talented in her eyes.

"Thank you Dr Brennan, I'll go see Dr Saroyan now" Wendell told her, wanting to suggest that she take the time while waiting for Agent Booth to pick her up, to get a little more sleep, but not wanting to step outside of their mentor/student relationship. He admired Dr B greatly, and felt that once he had his doctorates they'd be able to become good friends, but he knew that whilst he was still a student, and she his teacher, he wouldn't be offering her advice on how to deal with this pregnancy, unless she asked him for it. He walked out of her office smiling, thinking of how great a parent Dr B was going to be, she may not be the most conventional of people, but he knew she'd love her child and would be able to teach it so much when it got older. She still amazed him with the amount of knowledge that was stored inside of that genius brain of hers, not all of it pertaining to her profession.

Booth arrived an hour later to find Bones napping on the couch after having been talked into the nap by Hodgins who'd checked in on her once Dr Saroyan had given both he and Wendell permission to go home. He gently woke her and gathered up her things so they could go home. Without conscious decision they headed to her place and he quickly set about organising dinner for them once they were home. After eating he suggested as she predicted that they watch the third vampire movie, and she made it to the credits before falling asleep against his chest. He sat that way with her for a little while as the credits rolled, thinking of the movie and how opposite the two characters were and how that echoed his relationship with Bones.

"I love you Bones" He said as he kissed her cheek gently and settled them both on the couch, grabbing a blanket to wrap around them both. Once he was as comfortable as he was going to get on a couch he held her in his arms, gently stroking her abdomen as she slept next to him. He thought of the baby and how much he knew they both loved it already, even though she was only half way through her first trimester. He thought of the case, after Cam had called him to let him know the small amount of information they'd been able to learn about the body and wondered how anyone could bring themselves to hurt another human being in that way. He thought of Parker and how they were going to tell him that he was going to be a big brother, and then he thought of how Rebecca would react to the news, and hoped it would be positive. Finally he let his thoughts settle on his beautiful Bones and how much he loved her and was happy they'd taken this step in their relationship, she made him unbelievably happy and despite wishing they'd made this move earlier, he had to wonder if they'd actually be this happy if they'd begun a relationship back when he'd confessed his feelings for her at the Hoover, and decided that he was too tired to play the what if game. His last coherent thoughts were of the beautiful woman sleeping in his arms, a smile etched on his face even in sleep.

_Okay leaving it there, I promise Brennan isn't going to be throwing up in every chapter during this case, the nausea is going to come and go, she'll have good days and bad days, but I feel that as the pregnancy is still so new to them, that they would still be all about the pregnancy at this stage. Up next, we learn the identity of the victim and Brennan does her thing, no pregnancy brain for her! Until next time._


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – The Story the Bones Told**

Brennan spent the rest of the next day examining the bones, only taking breaks when she needed to eat or rest. The nausea hadn't been as bad so she decided to take advantage of the time without it. She catalogued at least twenty bone breaks and various other small nicks to the bones. It didn't make very much sense the amount of damage the victim had suffered while still being alive. All the breaks had occurred no more than a day before the victims death as no remodelling had occurred. She didn't want to admit it but at that moment she was stumped. She decided to head into Angela's office to see if she'd been able to complete the reconstruction of the victims face. Wendell had finished piecing the victim's skull together two hours ago and she was immensely proud of his fine work.

"How's the reconstruction going Ange?" Brennan asked admiring Angela's concentration as she went about her task.

"Wendell did a great job of piecing the skull together but it's taking a while to get this right, every time I think I've got it, I look at it and it just seems off to me, could you take a look?" Angela said, handing the reconstructed skull to Brennan to look at. She took the skull and weighed it in her hands, feeling it kinetically to see if she could figure out what Angela was meaning. It only took a few minutes to figure out that Angela was right, something was off, or more like missing from the skull.

"I have to take the skull to the bone room so I can examine it closer, something is missing Ange, you are right there is something off with this skull, keep doing what you can with what you've got and I'll get this back to you as soon as I can" Brennan told Angela, walking out of the room before Angela could even respond.

She headed back to the bone room and placed the skull in front of one of the powerful microscopes so she could see the different parts of the skull closer up. She saw the problem immediately, one of the facial bones was missing, a crucial part for facial reconstruction. She put the skull down carefully and went to find Wendell.

"Mr Bray, we need to go through the soil and particulates that were brought in with the body, do you know where Dr Hodgins is?" Brennan asked, hoping that the missing bone would be among the mound of surrounding dirt they'd brought back with them so that Hodgins could search for particulate evidence.

"Here Dr B, what can I do for you?" Hodgins asked as he rounded the corner after hearing Dr Brennan ask about him.

"We need to go through the soil and particulates that were brought in with the body, one of the facial bones is missing from the skull, and I don't believe Angela will be able to get a face without it" Brennan told them as a wave of tiredness hit her, and she did her best to shake it off.

"Dr B, Wendell and I will look for the facial bone, you look like you could use a rest, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I value my life too much, but if Booth were here he'd be suggesting this and you've been on your feet most of the day looking at those bones, please Dr B just go with it" Hodgins asked, waiting for the explosion from Brennan. When it wasn't forth coming he was secretly proud of her, she really had changed.

"Very well Dr Hodgins, I'll be in my office if you need me" Brennan agreed, not wanting to concede but knowing she wouldn't do anything to risk this pregnancy, she was doing her best to listen to her body more now that she was pregnant, it was difficult she'd spent so long ignoring it. She'd pointedly made sure that while she was working that she stopped every two hours to have a snack, drink some water and rest if she needed to. It was difficult maintaining that kind of focus on herself, especially when the mystery of what happened to this man was so great.

Two hours later, Angela walked into Brennan's office smiling at her best friend curled up on the lounge still sleeping. A blanket was draped over half of her body and she was snoring lightly. Her face was peaceful and although Angela hated to wake her, she knew Brennan would want to be as involved in this investigation as she could be. The fact that she was asleep at all, was a testament to how much pregnancy was changing her best friend, her focus shifting to the baby growing inside her, ensuring it's safety.

"Bren" Angela called, shaking her best friend slightly and smiled as the anthropologist roused from her sleep. There was something so childlike about her when she was just waking up and Angela stood and observed her for a little bit, while Brennan regained her bearings.

"What is it Ange?" Brennan asked, hoping she sounded more alert than she felt. What she wouldn't give for a cup of coffee at that moment.

"Wendell found the bone you were looking for, we have a face and a match" Angela explained as she punched a few keys on her keypad and a face appeared on Brennan's view screen.

"Anthony Feldman, med student completing his internship at Georgetown University Hospital, he was 23 years old. He has a girlfriend and Booth was able to get in contact with his parents, they are heading to the FBI building now, Booth asked if you'd join him when you woke up" Angela told Brennan, watching her take in the information.

"How did a medical student end up in a place like that, with twenty of his bones broken just prior to his death?" Brennan mused out loud, the absurdity of a young man with that much promise ending up behind a run down warehouse was not lost on her.

"Only one way to find out" Angela laughed, pushing her best friend over to her desk so she could call Booth to let him know she was on her way over to the Hoover to help with the questioning of Anthony's parents and his girlfriend if Booth could locate her.

She was greeted by Charlie when she arrived at the Hoover, who directed her to a conference room where Booth was waiting. She'd been in this room many times, during talks with Caroline, during questionings of relatives of victims and even sometimes informal interrogations. She wasn't prepared for how seeing Booth in this room after their relationship change would affect her. A part of her wanted to walk straight up to him and kiss him like both of their lives depended on it, but she knew they couldn't be unprofessional if they wanted the FBI to accept their relationship. She tucked that thought away for later that night, hoping that she'd be able to stay awake long enough to bring her thoughts into fruition.

"Bones" Booth called, searching her face and looking deeply into her eyes. She could tell he felt the same way, wanting to show affection when they both knew they couldn't. She walked over to sit next to him while they waited for Anthony's parents to be brought to the conference room and took his hand under the table, squeezing it slightly to show him she felt it too.

"Did you learn anything else about the victim?" Brennan asked, mostly because she didn't want to sit in this room in silence, it would only make it harder being alone with him without conversation.

"It seems our doctor in training had a bit of a drug problem, it's possible that's what got him killed, hopefully the parents or the girlfriend will know more" Booth said, part of him wishing the parents would hurry up and get there, so the temptation to kiss Bones would lessen. He could feel her hand stroking his under the table absently as she thought about what he'd said.

"I should take another look at the bones when we are finished here, see if I can tell how bad his drug problem was from his bones" Brennan told him, a few of the injuries to the bones now making sense. All the nicks on the bones she'd found were mostly centred around his radius and ulna on each arm. She wondered would he have been injecting that would have required a needle long enough to nick the bone.

"Dr Brennan, Agent Booth, this is Mr & Mrs Feldman, Anthony's parents" Charlie said showing them into the room and then walking out. Booth watched Anthony's parents sit down, taking note of the resigned grief he could see on their faces. Like they'd been expecting Anthony's death for sometime, but were still grief stricken by it.

"Mr & Mrs Feldman, my name is Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner Dr Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian institute, we are both very sorry for your loss" Booth told them, watching their responses to his words. He saw Mr Feldman look at Bones, a look of awe crossing his face and groaned as he realised the man was a fan of Bones' books.

"We knew Anthony had a problem, and we'd tried to get him help, he was doing so well, but we knew it was only a matter of time before something bad happened to him, we did what we could" Mrs Feldman said tears forming in her eyes as she thought of her boy and how they'd been unable to cure him of his addiction to heroin.

"Mr & Mrs Feldman did you know who your son's dealer was, or where he got the heroin from?" Booth asked, continuing to watch them for non verbal responses to his questions. He could see immediately that Mrs Feldman didn't know anything, but the father he definitely did.

"It was another student at the hospital, ah Jim, Jim Spencer I think it was, he was in the same year as Anthony and they were pretty close, they were both good kids, but they were easily influenced, it only took a few hits of heroin for Anthony to become addicted and when Jim realised it, he took it upon himself to source Anthony's heroin to make sure Anthony wouldn't OD somewhere on bad heroin" Mr Feldman answered, smiling at the courage of the young man to make sure his son didn't die from an overdose. He'd had his suspicions about their friendship, about whether it was just a friendship but Anthony had been dating Samantha and he knew their relationship had been sexual, he'd found the used condoms next to Anthony's bed whenever Samantha had stayed over.

"Any idea where we can find Jim, he might have some information on what happened to Anthony" Brennan asked, deciding to assert herself into the conversation, giving Booth time to continue to observe the parents.

"He lives in university housing, here I'll write down his number, but I can tell you for a fact he did not hurt my boy" Mr Feldman said, grabbing the piece of paper and a pen that was offered to him by Booth to write down Jim's number.

"You seem very sure of that Mr Feldman" Brennan commented, picking up on the man's words and the tone behind it. She had a feeling there was something more to that statement.

" Anthony and Jim were very close, I actually suspected that they were in a relationship together until Anthony brought Samantha home, Jim would have done anything for Anthony" Mr Feldman told them vehemently, not wanting them to think for a minute that Jim could have hurt Anthony. If Anthony hadn't loved Jim that way, he was pretty sure Jim loved Anthony that way and he could see that the boy would never have been capable of hurting the man he loved.

"We'll be speaking with Samantha later this afternoon, is there anything else you can think of, any enemies, or disagreements your son may have had?" Booth asked, still watching them, but also watching Bones out of the corner of his eye too. She was watching the father curiously, and he could tell she could see something in him that she really couldn't understand.

"No, other than the drug problem, Anthony was well liked in school and at the hospital, I have no idea who'd want to hurt my son" Mr Feldman told them, standing up and reaching for his wife's hand.

"Is that all? We have a funeral to arrange" Mr Feldman asked, the grief beginning to surface again as he thought of his son and how his life had been ended before he'd even been able to finish med school. He had so much potential, potential that would never be realised.

Booth shook his head and watched them walk out and then turned his focus onto his girlfriend curious about her thoughts on their conversation with Anthony's parents.

"So, what's your thoughts Bones? You were pretty quiet after he mentioned Jim Spencer, what were you thinking?" Booth asked, curious about his partner's developing ability to read people. She'd obviously seen something that had peaked her curiosity and he was interested to find out what that was.

"Anthony was gay, I believe the father knew and approved, but the mother she didn't" Brennan stated, she'd been watching not only the father when he talked about his son, but the mother too. Her lack of participation in the conversation after the mentioning of Jim Spencer had peaked her curiosity and she had used Booth's technique of looking like she was observing the father, to really observe the mother.

"Anthony had a girlfriend Bones he wasn't gay" Booth said, shaking his head, maybe his partner wasn't getting better at reading people.

"Booth, I know reading people is your expertise, but you heard Mr Feldman, he thought his son was in a relationship with a man before finding out he had a girlfriend, what if Samantha was a cover, because Anthony was ashamed of his homosexuality, or thought his parents would be ashamed of him" Brennan suggested, unsure of why she was so sure that Anthony was gay and why she was so sure the mother disapproved.

"Okay, let's go with that angle then, we should find this Jim Spencer and talk to him, after we've talked to the girlfriend, perhaps she didn't know she was being used and was angry enough to kill him" Booth posited, knowing his partner didn't like it when he did, but he needed to think out possible motives.

"How about we talk about motive over some lunch?"Brennan asked, her stomach growling as she realised it was now after 2pm and she hadn't had lunch. She went to stand up and a wave of dizziness hit her and she grabbed onto Booth's arm to steady herself. Low blood sugar she decided, realising it had been at least four hours since she had eaten something, her last snack had been just before she'd fallen asleep on her couch.

"You okay Bones?"Booth asked a little concerned by the paleness of Bones' face.

"I think my blood sugar is a little low, it's been at least four hours since I last ate, I came straight here after my nap, I should have eaten something" Brennan explained hoping it would appease Booth so they could get moving, she knew she had some nuts she could snack on in the car and the dizziness had passed quickly so it could have just been a case of getting up too quickly.

"Let's get you some food then" Booth said ushering her out of the door and down to the lift so they could head to the parking garages. He kept his hand at the small of her back, wanting to be able to support her should she be struck by another dizzy spell. He knew she'd been trying to eat more frequently, reasoning that it might aid with ensuring her morning sickness wasn't as bad and so far it seemed to be working.

The journey to the diner was quiet, Brennan had her head back and her eyes closed after she'd eaten a few nuts when they'd gotten into the car. She'd handed over her keys to Booth immediately knowing if she was struck by another dizzy spell that it could be dangerous for them both. The nuts had helped and she was no longer feeling dizzy, but she was tired and hoped that lunch would provide her with enough energy to get her through the rest of the day.

They'd found their table empty when they walked into the diner and had ordered immediately, Booth quietly asking the waitress to put a rush on their meals, while Brennan got up suddenly and headed for the bathroom. He hoped she wasn't being sick, but then remembered that she'd been needing to use the bathroom more often since she found out she was pregnant, and hoped that was all it was. He hated the thought that something so wonderful could be making her feel so awful.

Brennan walked back to the table a little shakily, her stomach having settled back down enough for her to think about eating her lunch, she knew she couldn't afford to skip this meal, even if she didn't quite feel like eating. She looked into Booth's worried brown eyes and tried to reassure him silently.

"I'm sorry the baby is making you so sick Bones" Booth said, wishing he could take on this part of the pregnancy for her. No matter how often she told him it was necessary and a good sign that the pregnancy was progressing normally, he still couldn't help but feel guilty for putting her in this position.

"Booth, morning sickness is a normal part of pregnancy, I'll be fine as soon as I can get some food into me" Brennan reassured him, seeing a flash of emotion cross his face that she was having trouble identifying. She smiled up at the waitress as she placed her bowl of soup and a bread roll in front of her, and sniffed at it warily hoping the smell would not trigger another round of nausea. She never knew what would set her off and she was happy to find that this smell was not only not making her feel sick, but was actually making her feel hungry. She dug into the soup with gusto, breaking the bread roll into pieces to dip into the soup as she ate. She could feel Booth's eyes on her as she ate, but it didn't break her concentration on her food, as she knew that once she'd finished she would feel a lot better.

Booth watched her an amused smile coming over his face as he watched her dig in, it was so strange seeing her eat like that, with gusto rather than the methodical pace she normally ate at. He picked up his burger and continued to watch her eat, happy that she seemed to be enjoying her meal. She finished her soup long before he finished his burger and he laughed quietly as she began reaching for some of his fries.

"Are you still hungry Bones? Should I order you some dessert?" Booth teased gently, knowing that his partner very rarely had dessert, and had yet to experience any cravings, which Booth was secretly looking forward to fulfilling. He was actually looking forward to being woken up late at night by Bones wanting him to go to the shop and buy her something that would satisfy her craving. Suddenly he had a vision of Bones, heavily pregnant, eating ice cream in bed out of the container, looking devastatingly sexy as she groaned her approval of the ice cream she was consuming. He heard his name being called and looked up and saw Bones looking at him expectantly.

"Uh, sorry Bones did you say something?" Booth asked, sheepishly as he realised his pants had become a little uncomfortable after his vision of her. He felt her hand come to rest on his thigh and almost jumped out of his skin at the sensation.

"Are you alright Booth? You are going a little red in the face" Brennan asked concerned and began tracing her hand along his thigh in an unconscious manner as she looked into his eyes to try and read the emotion in them.

"I – yes uh no Bones you need to stop that" Booth said, feeling his pants tighten at the sensation of her hand tracing patterns on his thigh, struggling to maintain his composure. He was pretty sure she had no idea what she was doing to him and the thought both scared him and aroused him even further.

"What?" Brennan asked confused, still tracing her hands over his thigh. She gasped when he caught her hand in his, stilling her movements before bringing her hand to rest near the bulge in his pants.

"That, do you have any idea what you do to me?" Booth asked, gasping himself as she wiggled her hand a little in his grasp causing their hands to rub against his erection. He looked up at her and saw the twinkle in her eye as she realised exactly what she'd been doing to him and decided she was definitely going to make sure she stayed awake, so she could show him exactly what he did to her when he touched her just as innocently.

"I'm sorry Booth I was unaware that my actions had caused -" Brennan said but was cut off by Booth kissing her gently, deepening the kiss as he felt her respond to him. They were breathless when the kiss ended and Booth realised they needed to head back to work or they were going to end up not going back to work at all.

"We should head back to work, do you want to come back to the Hoover with me or should I drop you off at the lab?" Booth asked, trying to regain his composure after the kiss not realising her hand was still resting close to his still erect penis.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to get up right now?" Brennan asked as she stroked him a little to emphasise his predicament.

"Well if you would stop touching me" Booth growled as she stroked him again. She was torturing him, and he was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on getting them out of the diner and back to work.

"I find that I'd rather go home and make love to you, than go back to work" Brennan told him huskily, knowing she was torturing him, and knowing they didn't really have time, but a part of felt that she needed to take advantage of the periods where she wanted him, she never knew when her exhaustion would take over her, sometimes she'd be able to stay up fairly late with him, other days she'd be asleep well before 9pm.

"Bones, we have a case, we don't really have time" Booth said biting back a moan as she stroked him again, he was getting harder by the second and was rapidly losing his will to go back to work and part of him thought that she knew it. He watched her throw some bills on the table and then grab his hand pulling him out of his chair and pushing his jacket at him in an effort to help him disguise his erection. He willingly followed her to the car and before he knew it they were at his place, both of them bounding up the stairs as quickly as they could. She had him pressed up against the wall inside his doorway before the door even closed, kissing him deeply and fumbling with his shirt buttons. He decided then to let this happen at her pace and was surprised at how quickly she had him undressed.

He groaned as she pressed herself against him, grinding against his erection as he stood naked before her. She quickly stepped out of her clothes and guided him towards his bedroom, pushing him back onto the bed and straddling him as soon as his back hit the mattress. He reached up to stroke her breasts as she ground against him a little and heard her hiss in appreciation, he circled them gently knowing they had been tender and wanting her to feel pleasure not pain. He groaned again as she pressed herself against his erection and enveloped him in her warm wet heat, her walls clenching around him as she sank onto him completely. She stilled for a moment allowing herself to get used to the pressure and then slowly began to move, pulling back from him and then sinking back down into him again, both of them now groaning from the sensation of being joined together. As her arousal grew she began to ride him harder and faster, and he struggled to keep his focus on her breasts as her walls began to clench around him, he knew neither of them were going to last long and took her into a passionate kiss, their tongues duelling together as he rose his hips to meet her thrusts, his hands circling her nipples enticing her into orgasm.

When they both finally erupted she collapsed against him, both of them breathing heavily at the force of their joint orgasm and and the pace of their lovemaking. They lay there for a while like that, with him still buried inside her, both trying to regain their composure. He held her to him feeling her heart beat begin to calm and return to a normal rhythm and her breathing slow and deepen. When he realised she'd fallen asleep, he slowly turned onto his side, pulling himself out of her, smiling at the little moan she made in her sleep and then gently got up out of the bed so as not to disturb her and went to take a shower.

When he came back from the shower he saw that she was still asleep and made a decision to go and question the girlfriend and friend by himself, maybe he'd ask Sweets to sit in, but he was loathe to disturb her sleep when he knew she needed it so much. She might be unhappy with him later, and tell him he should have woken her, but he was going on his instincts on this one and his gut was never wrong.

He wrote her a quick note for when she woke up and left the apartment as quietly as he could willing his mind back onto the case and not back with his sleeping girlfriend. He made a quick call to Cam to let her know that Bones was going to be late back from lunch if she made it back at all and smiled when Cam told him that it was fine and that she was happy he'd been able to get the stubborn anthropologist to rest.

The interview with the girlfriend yielded very little usable clues and it was clear from Samantha's responses that Bones had been right, there was no sexual relationship between Anthony and Samantha. As much as he didn't want to think it, he was beginning to think Anthony's homosexuality could have been a motive in his murder. Sweets had agreed when he went to talk to him about the interview and his suspicions. Sweets had been surprised when Booth had told him that Dr Brennan had come up with the theory that Anthony was gay and possibly in a relationship with Jim Spencer.

He got a text from Bones a little later in the afternoon thanking him for the note and asking him why he hadn't woken her up when he left. He had no idea how to respond without possibly sounding condescending, or overprotective so he didn't respond. He instead immersed himself into the case, doing a little research on Jim Spencer and going back over his thoughts on the interviews he'd conducted, thinking about Brennan's thoughts on Anthony's mum not being happy her son was homosexual. He couldn't shake the thought that there was more to this case than they could see at that point in time and smiled when he got another text from Brennan advising him she was back in the lab examining the bones again.

He texted her back asking her if she could be available for Jim's interview, wondering if she would again be able to see something he didn't when they talked to Anthony's possible lover. She confirmed that she would but asked if he could pick her up as she wanted to leave after the interview to go home for the day. He replied with an okay and got back down to work.

Before long it was time to go pick up Bones, he quickly grabbed her a fruit salad from their favourite coffee stand and headed over to the lab. She met him down at the parking garage and they were headed back to the Hoover building before he knew it. She munched happily on the fruit salad, touched that he'd thought of her and grateful for the food as she hadn't had time to grab something herself.

She wanted to wait until after they'd interviewed Jim Spencer before telling Booth what she'd found in the bones, so she distracted him as much as she could on the drive back to the hoover. They quickly made their way up to the conference room they'd met Anthony's parents in before and saw that Jim was already there waiting for them.

"Jim Spencer, my name is Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner Dr Temperance Brennan, we'd like to ask you a few questions about your friend Anthony Feldman" Booth began watching the young man to see if he gave anything away. Brennan took one look at Jim and knew instantly that he was a homosexual. She'd once done a paper on the way homosexual men moved as opposed to straight men, as part of her degree in kinesiology and that was what had tipped her off with Anthony.

"Before you say anything I did not kill Anthony, I loved him, but I think I know who did" Jim said looking nervously at Booth and Brennan.

_Leaving it there as a little bit of a cliffhanger.. so any clues yet as to who you think might have murdered Anthony? I wanted to try my hand at concentrating on a good portion of a case during this chapter so I hope you all liked that. Thank you again for reading :)_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Let he who is without sin**

_"Before you say anything I did not kill Anthony, I loved him, but I think I know who did" Jim said looking nervously at Booth and Brennan._

"Well Jim before you go giving us your theories I'd like to ask you some questions first" Booth told Jim wanting to get some answers out of him to get a better feel for the guy before he'd go believing his theory on the murderer of his friend.

"Were you in a homosexual relationship with the victim?" Booth asked getting straight to the point.

"Yes, but we kept it a secret from everyone, Anthony was too afraid to tell his parents, especially his mum she'd never approve of it" Jim answered, saddened by the death of the man he'd loved.

"So no one knew at all about your relationship?" Booth asked, consciously allowing Brennan to observe, he'd give her a cue when he wanted her to take part in the conversation.

"A few friends of ours, but no one outside of those friendships, we couldn't risk someone from Anthony's family finding out" Jim answered, hoping that Agent Booth would believe him. He looked curiously at Brennan wondering why she was in the room, she hadn't spoke yet just sat there watching him, it was a little unnerving.

"And where were you the night Anthony died?" Booth asked his final question before he'd direct his questioning towards Jim's theory of the crime. He had to go by the book and getting an alibi was crucial to ensuring that he knew without a doubt Jim was not guilty and he wouldn't be persuaded by Jim's story.

"I was working, as you know I'm a student at the hospital, I was on a 12 hour shift, the hospital can confirm that I was there" Jim answered glancing at Brennan nervously, he still couldn't figure out why she was there, she didn't look FBI.

"Jim, do you know how Agent Booth was able to determine that you were in a homosexual relationship?" Brennan asked finally speaking up after getting an almost imperceptible nod from Booth.

"He did his homework?" Jim answered nervously unsure where this conversation was going.

"No Jim, Agent Booth knew because I told him, I'm a Forensic Anthropologist, but I also have a doctorate in Kinesiology, I've studied human movement, and one of my papers was on the movement of homosexual males and the signs one can detect to ascertain that a male individual is gay" Brennan explained, seeing comprehension come into the man's eyes.

"So you see I was able to determine quite quickly when you walked in that you were a gay man, and given what Agent Booth observed when he was questioning Samantha, Anthony's girlfriend, I was able to come to the conclusion that you and Jim were a couple" Brennan told Jim, wanting to let this man know that she understood and she held no objections to their union at all. She'd never believed that homosexuality was abnormal due to it being found in nature many times in different species.

"So does that mean you still think I killed Anthony? I gave you an alibi?" Jim asked, unsure of where the anthropologist was going with this conversation.

"I don't believe you killed Anthony, but I believe it's possible you have a theory and both Agent Booth and I would be willing to hear you out" Brennan told him, wanting to convey that they did not suspect him at all, in fact Brennan had never suspected him, the moment she understood that Jim was Anthony's boyfriend, she couldn't explain it but she had a good idea herself of who the killer was, and the evidence she'd found in Anthony's bones, was backing that theory up.

"Anthony's mother belongs to a church that has very strict ideas of how their congregation should act, they believe homosexuality is a sin, a perversion of the spirit, they believe in the old testament and reject the new testament saying it's too 'nice' for God" Jim explained looking at the two of them to see if they were following.

"Did Anthony's mother's church condone stoning Jim?" Brennan asked and Booth turned to her stunned by this turn in questioning, wondering what his partner had seen in those bones.

"Yes, for transgressions God could not forgive, one of those transgressions was being proven to be a homosexual" Jim answered bowing his head shamefully knowing one act between him and Anthony had caused his death.

"She caught you two didn't she?" Booth asked, seeing the shame on the young man's face as he looked up at him and nodded.

"She was so angry, she roared at me to leave and then Anthony said she went straight to her church" Jim told them, guilt over getting so caught up in the moment with Anthony that they forgot that his mum would be home from work, and not hearing her open the door to Anthony's room.

"The next day I learnt that Anthony had been killed and I just knew, either she killed him or her congregation did" Jim said, tears filling his eyes as he thought of the man he'd loved and how he would never be with him again due to the hatred brought on by the misunderstanding of God's wishes for his people.

"Just one more question Jim, do you believe in God?" Booth asked curiously, although he could never condone what the young man was describing could have happened to their victim, some of the things he'd said led him to think the young man did in fact believe in God. He himself had always felt torn in his Catholic beliefs and what they'd taught about homosexuality and it being a sin, but he'd read the new testament and couldn't believe a man as merciful as Jesus had been could ever believe that just because a man laid with another man, that he was unredeemable.

"Yes sir I do, and I believe that he doesn't judge me for who I am, which I cannot change" Jim said simply, done with the conversation now, all he wanted to do was go home and grieve for his lost love.

"That's all our questions, we'll be in touch if we need anything else" Booth said as he got up and left the room, Brennan following closely behind.

"Next time tell me the evidence before bringing it into the questioning Bones, I need to know everything you know when I go into an interrogation" Booth said a little sharply, he'd been blind sided a little by Bones' question and didn't like feeling in the dark on something even if the person who knew was his partner.

"I'm sorry Booth, I didn't have time to explain it to you and I couldn't resist the opportunity to have Jim confirm my suspicions" Brennan answered meekly, knowing she probably should have insisted on taking him aside to present her findings on the bones, but she was pretty sure it wouldn't have made a difference to the questioning.

"It's all right Bones, but you need to tell me what you know now" Booth said gently, realising that she'd come directly from the Jeffersonian just to be in the interrogation to support him. He didn't know if she knew exactly what she actually did for him in those interrogation rooms, but one day he'd explain it to her.

"The 20+ bone breaks I found were caused by the bones being hit with a heavy object, round in shape, but roughly edged, they were thrown at him and as soon as Hodgins finishes his analysis of the particles I found embedded in some of the breaks, I'll be able to corroborate my theory that Anthony was stoned to death" Brennan explained to Booth, deeply saddened by her findings, she couldn't believe that someone would do that to a human being simply for being who they were.

"This backs up Jim's theory that it was either the mother or the congregation, is there any way you can determine if the objects thrown at Jim were thrown by more than one person?" Booth asked watching Brennan carefully, after her dizziness before he wanted to make sure she wasn't taxing herself too much with this investigation.

"We can get Angela to see if she can input my findings into the Angelator and see if we can come up with trajectories for the objects, it would show at least the height that they were thrown, and if the height varies that could indicate more than one person" Brennan said, seeing the concern in Booth's eyes but not acknowledging it. She was fine at the moment and no matter how over-protective Booth got she was not going to allow him to impede on her ability to help solve this case. She was listening to her body for the first time in her life, really listening to it and doing everything she could to ensure that she rested enough, that she ate enough and that she drank enough, she knew she couldn't stop him from worrying about her, but she wished he'd trust her more, when it came to her taking care of herself during this pregnancy. She would not risk the baby's life under any circumstances and she was not going to give the FBI any reason to take her out of the field if she could help it.

" That sounds good, how about you head over to the Jeffersonian and get onto that with Angela, while I do some research into Anthony's mother's church, I'll come over and pick you up for dinner at about 6pm is that ok?" Booth asked wanting to take Brennan home now, but knew he needed to fight his over-protective instincts or he'd be sleeping on the couch for the majority of this pregnancy.

"That would be acceptable" Brennan said looking around before kissing Booth gently, tracing her hand along his strong jaw, before pulling him further into the kiss, she broke it off quickly when she heard footsteps approaching and smiled at him sheepishly before heading for her car.

"Angela, I need you to input the data from my findings on this case" Brennan asked as she walked into Angela's office. She looked up and saw Jack walking quickly away and then looked over at her slightly dishevelled friend.

"Did I interrupt something?" Brennan asked apologetically, while she and Booth tried very hard not to do anything in her office, they had indulged once or twice when they knew for certain no one was around. Not one to begrudge anyone their biological need for release she unlike Cam didn't frown on Angela and Hodgins taking advantage of time away from Michael to indulge in this need.

"You know you did! Next time sweetie, knock or you will get an eyeful" Angela teased looking up at her best friend and smiling.

"Now you said you needed something?" Angela asked, curious about why her best friend was here in her office and not with Booth, she'd thought they were questioning witnesses.

"Yes I need to you to input the data I gained from the victim's bones into the Angelator, I want to see if we are able to calculate the trajectories of the objects that were thrown at the victim that caused the breaks to his bones" Brennan told Angela, watching as the artist's hands flew over the keyboard as she spoke already inputting the data. One of the things she loved about Angela was her efficiency, she could type faster than even Brennan could and she was always ready to do what was needed in any situation.

"Let's see what we get from that, okay now most of the objects were thrown from the same height and at the same angle, so they were most likely from the same person, but a few of them were thrown from a greater height and a different angle, most likely a taller person than the other assailant" Angela told Brennan as they both watched the Angelator bring up the images of Anthony's body and the heights and angles of the throws.

"Can you calculate how tall the two people are?" Brennan asked, knowing that if they could get the heights of the assailants then it would help ascertain who they were.

"Yep, I can also tell you that the one's that were thrown from the taller assailant were thrown considerably harder than the ones by the smaller one, I can use the speed at which the objects were thrown to work out the approximate weight of the two individuals too if that would help?" Angela asked looking at Brennan and seeing her staring into space for a moment.

"Sweetie?" Angela asked, recognising the look and knowing that Brennan had a fair idea of who she thought the other assailant was.

"The leader of Anthony's mum's church, he'd be the most likely person to have engaged in this act with Anthony's mum if that is what happened" Brennan posited, even though she knew she had no proof as yet to back it up, it was the only choice that made logical sense. Now all she could do was wait for the Angelator to get them the proof that he was the other person involved in Anthony's death.

"Well these results are going to take a little while and I know Hodgins wanted to show you his results, so why don't you head to your office and I'll send him into you, you look beat sweetie, it might be a good idea to head home early today" Angela suggested not knowing Brennan had already agreed to leave with Booth at 6pm far earlier than her normal finishing hours.

"I'll be in my office then" Brennan said as she squeezed Angela's shoulder, silently thanking her for her concern but trying to convey through touch that it was unnecessary. Yes she was tired, but it had been a long day and despite the two hour nap she'd taken on the lounge, biologically she knew her body was going through a process that required a great amount of energy. She was secretly fascinated by all the changes that were going on in her body every day. Due to her heightened knowledge of what the body went through when pregnant she was extremely vigilant when detecting any changes that were going on. She sat down at her desk and leaned back in her chair for a few moments sighing as she felt the relief of being off her feet for the moment. She closed her eyes and concentrated on relaxing for a few moments, knowing that as soon as Jack walked in to explain his findings she'd be completely engrossed in the science of the conversation and she'd need a little more energy to help her with that.

"Dr B?" Hodgins called knocking quietly on the door to her office even though the door was open. He'd watched her walk in and had seen her lay her head back and had decided to wait a few minutes to give her a chance to wind down a little before he bombarded her with his findings. He knew that when Angie had been pregnant, even in the early stages, just a few moments of peace were a godsend to her. Angie was just as stubborn as Dr B and he'd been unable to get her to rest as much as he'd liked, as he suspected Booth would have the same problem with Dr B, so he'd learnt to give Angie those moments and he was going to do the same with Dr B.

"Yes Jack, what have you found" Brennan asked reluctantly sitting up in her chair. She was beginning to wish for 6pm to roll around so she could go have dinner with Booth and then head straight to bed when they got home. It was going to be one of those nights where she was asleep before 8 or 9pm, even though she'd wanted things to be different, she couldn't argue with her body.

"You were right, the particles you found were broken off portions of larger rocks, I found traces of quartz, mica and feldspar these in combination would make up a granite rock, a fairly common rock so it won't be easily traced unfortunately, but we can definitely say he was stoned to death" Jack told her, and watched her process the information.

"That's very good work Jack, I think you are right we can rule cause of death as stoning, I can't believe someone would do that to someone else, his injuries would have been very painful, until the last break I discovered, which is most likely the blow that killed him and created some of the damage to the skull" Brennan told him, a single tear sliding down her face. She wiped it away sheepishly, knowing it was probably hormones, but she had to admit that she was identifying with this case a lot more than she normally did. She was feeling a lot more in this case than she normally did and it was making her feel a little off balance, she was having trouble detaching from the victim, which was unsettling for her.

"You know Dr B, it's okay to feel saddened by acts of cruelty, and it's even more okay to show it, I know that as your pregnancy progresses, you are going to feel a lot more than you normally do because of the hormones, just know Angela and Booth aren't the only people you can talk to, I went through this with Angela, sometimes after a really hard case, I'd just hold her while she cried until she fell asleep, sometimes the pain and the hormones overwhelmed her, I just want you to know I'm here for you if you need someone" Jack told her, hoping she'd take him up on the offer at least once during her pregnancy.

"Thank you Jack, that means a lot to me, I'm not sure why this case is affecting me as much as it is, I just can't seem to compartmentalise at the moment, I don't know if it's because of the baby or something else" Brennan told him, admitting something she hadn't even admitted to Booth yet.

"It's probably the hormones Dr B, just make sure that you let others help you, I know you are a strong independent woman, and that you can take care of yourself, but pregnancy can be hard on a woman, and I can already see it's been difficult for you, there isn't any shame in letting others help you when you need it, that being said if Booth gets all over-protective on you, let me know and I'll straighten him out" Jack said winking at Brennan as he walked out of the room leaving her to mull over what he'd said.

She sat there thinking for a while about what Jack had said, and about how she was feeling and why she was feeling so much for this case. After about twenty minutes of mulling it came to her why she felt so strongly about this case, about how this young man's mother had killed her son for being who he was. Her best friend was a woman who had been in a same sex relationship at one stage, and she couldn't imagine anyone ever wanting to hurt Ange for that part of her, she herself had even had attractions to women when she was younger, attractions she'd never acted upon, but had felt nonetheless. How senseless this murder was, to kill someone simply for being who they were.

She doubted anyone knew, but she regularly donated money to anti-discrimination organisations and LGBTI organisations, especially after she had learned of Angela's relationship with Roxy. She'd wanted to support her friend and also to understand more about the troubles her friend might experience being in a relationship with another woman. She'd been very pleased when she'd learnt that Washington DC supported same sex marriage, and that her best friend would not be treated like a second class citizen and have to fight for that right. Although she didn't believe in marriage personally, she didn't believe anyone deserved to have to fight for the right to have a legal marriage if they desired it.

"Ready to go Bones?" Booth asked as he walked into her office, seeing her deep in thought. He wondered what was going through that brilliant mind of hers to have her so deep in thought she hadn't heard him walk in.

"Bones?"Booth asked again walking up to her desk and placing his hand on hers. He felt her jump a little and looked at her concerned.

"Sorry Booth, I was thinking about the case, Ja- Dr Hodgins has confirmed that the particles we found were granite rocks, and my official finding on the cause of death is stoning" Brennan told Booth, shaking off her thoughts from before. She knew she needed to talk to Booth about why the case was affecting her, as she was sure that today's display of emotion in front of Jack would not be her last, and he would want an explanation for her behaviour. Hormones could only explain so much.

" Good, are you okay Bones, you were pretty out of it just then" Booth asked worried for the woman he loved.

"I'm fine Booth, I was just going over the case in my head trying to figure out if I'd missed anything" Brennan told him, hoping that the partial lie would appease him, she really didn't want to get into a deeply emotional conversation right now, she was too tired for that.

"Okay well, how about we go get some dinner, and then get you off to bed, and no I'm not being over-protective, you look beat Bones, and I don't think you're going to argue with me" Booth said glancing over her as covertly as he could and taking in the paleness of her skin and the exhaustion he could clearly see in her expression.

"As you are correct, it would be fruitless for me to argue with you, let's go Booth" Brennan said as she gathered her coat and her bag and began to move towards the door. She didn't get very far before she was engulfed in his arms as he took her into a hug and she sighed as a feeling of complete safety enveloped her. She didn't know how he knew she needed this right now, but this was one of those times she felt very lucky to be partnered with such a wonderful caring man. She knew he was probably going to drive her crazy as this pregnancy progressed, but for now she just allowed herself to be enveloped by his warmth and his strength.

"Let's go home Bones, I'll make you that soup you love, the one that's been helping with the nausea, and then we'll both have an early night" Booth said as he ushered her out of the lab and down to the parking garage. They were home within ten minutes, Booth opting to head to his place because it was closer and also because he knew he had the soup she liked at his place. He banished her to the lounge expecting her to protest, and was greatly surprised when she didn't. She turned on the discovery channel, a channel she and Parker watched a lot when he was with them.

"Booth, I think we should tell Parker this weekend" Brennan called out knowing they were due to have Parker on the weekend and she wanted him to know, especially as the last time he'd been with them she hadn't been experiencing morning sickness. She didn't want him to think she was getting sick or for him to worry and although she was still not through her first trimester, and knowing that if they told him now and she lost the baby, which could still happen he'd be upset, she had a feeling that everything would be okay.

"Are you sure? You're still not through your first trimester" Booth said, not wanting to influence her decision at all, he secretly hoped she was serious about this, part of him was bursting to tell his little boy that he was going to be a big brother, but he'd understood her wariness, he knew that the risks of miscarriage lessened once a woman was past their first trimester and that most people waited to tell people after that period.

"Yes, I don't want him to worry if I get sick, if we don't tell him about the pregnancy he might think I'm getting sick and I don't want to worry him unnecessarily" Brennan said her hand unconsciously resting on her stomach and stroking it lightly. All of the evidence suggested that this was a healthy pregnancy, and although they still had a week or two to go before they could see evidence of a healthy baby, she knew that the morning sickness she was experiencing, coupled with her other symptoms, suggested that her hormone levels were sufficiently high enough to maintain the pregnancy.

"Well then that's settled, we'll tell him this weekend, he's going to be so excited to be a big brother, he's been asking his mum and Drew for a baby brother or sister for ages" Booth said, getting excited again about the prospect of telling his son about this wonderful news.

"Booth, I think we should involve Parker with as many aspects of my pregnancy as we can, maybe we can talk to Rebecca about letting Parker come to some of my ultrasounds and appointments?" Brennan suggested, knowing from the books she'd read about siblings, that they'd made the same suggestions especially when they age gap was going to be this big. Parker would be 10 years old when the baby was born and she knew there was a possibility that he would feel threatened by the baby especially when the baby got to be here with his Dad all the time. She wanted to involve him as much in the pregnancy as she could so that he would bond with the baby, to hopefully eliminate some of that threat. She knew jealousy would probably occur at some point, due to Parker only getting to be with his Dad some of the time, but felt that if they were able to help him bond as much with the baby as possible, that the little jealousy he felt would be fleeting. She was hoping now that they were having a baby, that Rebecca might be a little more lenient with the time that Parker spent with them.

"You are amazing you know that? Now your soup will be ready in about 15 minutes so you rest up and watch whatever it is that you are watching" Booth said taking a look at the program she was watching and not being able to make heads or tails of it. He walked back into the kitchen to finish preparing her soup and to make himself a grilled cheese sandwich, it was one of the only things he could safely cook inside the apartment at the moment without making her sick. He'd had to give up his bacon and egg breakfasts in favour of pancakes or waffles because the smell of the bacon and even the eggs cooking had her running for the toilet. It was a small sacrifice he believed considering everything she was going through and what she still had to come in order to have their baby.

When he brought in her soup, with a couple of slices of her favourite toast, he found her asleep on the lounge. He'd never known her to conk out like that so quickly, normally it took a fair amount of time for her to fall asleep. Just another change, he thought as he gently woke her. When he was satisfied she wouldn't fall asleep and go head first into her soup, he went and retrieved his sandwich and sat down next to her to eat it. When they were both finished eating, he helped her up and they walked slowly to the bedroom. There was a small protest from her when he insisted on helping her out of her clothes and into pyjamas to sleep in, she'd wanted to just collapse into bed as she was, that was how tired she was.

Once she was dressed and in bed she drifted off quickly, not even getting a chance to say good night before sleep was claiming her and he spent a few moments just watching her sleep. He yawned and realised he was tired enough to sleep too, so he laid down next to her curling himself around her and placing his hand on her stomach, marvelling at the soft firmness of her stomach, you still couldn't tell she was pregnant just from looking at her, but at 8 weeks he was finally feeling some sign that there really was a baby in there and he lay there thinking about their baby and his son and how they were going to make a great family once the baby was here, before drifting off to sleep wrapped around the woman he loved.

_So... we know who did it, but how do Booth & Brennan go about proving it. Will Booth be able to get a confession out of not only the Mother but the Priest! And we will have Parker to look forward to in the next couple of chapters :) Thanks for reading as always. Mel_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**The cruelness of Humanity**

**Apologies for the time it's taken for me to get this next chapter out. My muse left me for a while there, but she's back! And so to continue...**

Brennan awoke in the early hours of the next morning unsure what had awakened her. She lay there listening to her body wondering if it was nausea that had woken her or whether it was an errant thought that had been strong enough to rouse her from slumber. As she thought and listened it finally came to her and she sprang from the bed, rushing to her laptop not even thinking of whether she had woken Booth.

She opened up her search engine on the laptop and googled for the answer, the thoughts whirling through her head with the epiphany she'd just experienced. Once she'd realised the answer she rushed back into the bedroom and threw on clothing before hastily writing Booth a note to let him know where she was. Stopping for one moment before she rushed out of the house, she looked at him sleeping and smiled, before the insistent urgency she felt returned and she left the house promptly, silently marvelling that she'd managed to leave without waking him.

She arrived at the lab twenty minutes later and went straight to her office to put down her bag and grab her lab coat. Buttoning up her coat she absently noted that it was snugger than she was used to and that she would have to get a new one soon. She grabbed her ID card and and walked onto the platform, after sliding the card into the security lock which allowed her access to the lab. The bones were laid out on the table as they'd left them yesterday and she went straight to them to begin examining them to try and find the mark she knew would have to exist on them. Her focus was so intent she didn't hear Cam enter the platform and walk over to her.

"Dr Brennan, you're here very early this morning?" Cam asked, noting the deep concentration on the other woman's face, knowing she had discovered something or was close to discovering something. She smiled when the other woman did not respond in any way to her question, it seemed that even pregnancy would not stop the focus of this woman, and she silently admired her, for all that she was able to accomplish even in the most difficult of situations.

"Dr Brennan" Cam called again, this time laying a hand on the anthropologist's hoping the touch would break her concentration even for just a moment. Despite the knowledge that Brennan was on the verge of discovering something that could break the case for them, it was her duty as Brennan's boss to ensure that her employee was okay, and being at the lab at 4am in the morning when she was pregnant and suffering fairly debilitating symptoms due to the pregnancy was not good for her employee, and her friend. She'd noticed Brennan's inability to compartmentalise this case, and she was concerned for her, not only professionally but personally.

"Cam, sorry I didn't hear you approach, why are you here?" Brennan asked, wanting desperately to keep examining the bones, but knowing that Cam was her superior, and that she must have a reason for being here, Cam was never in the office at this hour of the morning.

"I got a call from security, advising me that you had come into the lab" Cam explained, and then stopped because she didn't know how she was going to explain the next part. She didn't know if it would anger Brennan or if it would touch her that she'd been concerned about her.

"I – during the Lauren Eames case, you worked almost non-stop and weren't sleeping, I noticed and I saw the toll that case took on you, so I devised a solution with security, that if you came into the lab outside of normal hours that they'd alert me, so I could come and talk to you and hopefully get you to go home, I just couldn't watch you do that to yourself again and I wanted to help you" Cam explained and cringed waiting for the expected explosion from Brennan. She had no idea how she'd react, especially with the pregnancy and the hormones.

When Brennan failed to respond to her explanation she became even more worried. She'd known it was something that Brennan would discover eventually, and honestly she'd been thinking of breaking the arrangement after Brennan and Booth had gotten together knowing that Booth was more than capable of taking care of the stubborn anthropologist, but there was something about this case, something that was taking a toll on her friend and she had anticipated that the need might still exist for the arrangement.

"Thank you for your concern Dr Saroyan, but I came to the lab because I'd had an idea, not because I couldn't sleep" Brennan told Cam, unsure how to feel about what had been revealed. She knew she'd caused her co-workers some concern during the Lauren Eames case, it had been extremely difficult for her, and she knew it had been for them too, but Cam hadn't once given her any indication that she was concerned enough about her to get security involved.

"It was you?" Brennan said, as a sudden flash of that time came back, of Micah coming into the bone room and requesting that she leave and that he had a cab waiting to take her home. It had been Cam who had issued that request, and she couldn't work out if she was pleased or angered by that. She had come to care a great deal about Cam, even though they still butted heads often and it might seem outwardly that they were no more than acquaintances. Cam kept her honest, was one of the only people in the lab that openly challenged her and to be honest, Cam made her a better Anthropologist, a better scientist and in a lot of ways a better person.

"Yes, I asked security to escort you out of the lab, I could see the toll the case was taking on you and Booth, well Booth wasn't around and I couldn't think of what else to do, I couldn't stand to see you in so much pain and not do anything about it" Cam said not sure if this was the best time to be talking about this, but maybe it was time that Brennan knew just how much she had come to mean to her.

"Without you, I wouldn't have Michelle, I mean at the time I wasn't even sure you liked me, but still you gave me advice with an honest heart and it was the best advice I'd ever been given, after that day, you came to become an important person in my life, but I couldn't show you just how much, because you were my subordinate and I was afraid that you would reject any attempts from me to define our friendship, so I just let it evolve naturally, I care about you Temperance, very much and it warms my heart to see how happy you are now" Cam told her, finally opening up and letting Brennan see that she was so much more than her boss, and that if she'd let her, she'd be a friend she could rely on and someone she could lean on during difficult times.

"I- I don't know how to respond, Cam, after that case with the foster kids, I came to see you could be a friend, and to be honest you are the only person in this lab that openly challenges me, you have no idea how valuable that is to me, you are always honest with me, I just wish you'd come to me with your concerns instead of working in the hallways" Brennan said, not sure if she'd gotten the last part of her sentence correct.

"You mean shadows, working in the shadows?" Cam asked, and watched as Brennan nodded, unsure of where they stood at that moment.

"I'm sorry, I know I should have just came to you and talked to you, but with my history with Booth and being your boss, I didn't know if you'd open up to me, still I should have tried huh?" Cam asked, already knowing the answer.

"It's okay Cam, it was a difficult time for me, but everything is okay now, Booth and I are doing well and I consider you to be one of my best friends, so can we just move on from this?" Brennan asked, the desire to examine the bones becoming more insistent as the conversation continued. As she thought about that, she actually thought that Cam might be able to help with something.

"Of course Brennan, now do you want to explain to me what you are doing here at this hour of the morning?" Cam asked, bringing the conversation back to the case sensing that Brennan couldn't take much more of an emotional conversation right now. The anthropologist was on edge, her body was basically vibrating with the desire to investigate whatever it was that she thought she had discovered.

"Cam, did you do a tox screen on the victim?" Brennan asked as her attention snapped back to the bones, scanning them for the mark she was hoping she'd find.

"Yes, but I only got the results back last night and I was going to look over them this morning, why?" Cam asked, sensing where this conversation was going to go but wanting to hear Brennan's explanation.

"It's been concerning me how a man of the victim's height and weight could have been overpowered and stoned by only two assailants, I mean Anthony was by no means a weak man, his musculature suggested that he was in good shape and was quite strong, so how did two people, one an elderly woman and the other a priest manage to overpower him and then stone him" Brennan mused as she continued to examine the bones, picking up the scapulae and examining it thoroughly under the microscope, increasing the magnification slowly and letting the microscope focus. Finally the mark she'd been looking for was visible on the bone and both she and Cam gasped at it's implications.

"Well I think you have your answer, let me take a look at the tox screen results and see if I can help you find proof" Cam said as she walked over to the computer next to the examination table and brought up the tox screen results. Her eyes widened at the results, and she looked over at Brennan who was still holding the scapulae in her hands, running her finger gently over the slight indentation in the bone.

"You were right, he was drugged, he had enough succinylcholine in his system to render him paralysed but he would have been conscious at the time of his death" Cam said, horrified at what they'd discovered, how anyone could do that to another human being, and allow them to be awake through the experience was beyond her. Human cruelty in its most basic form, distorted by religion, which was exactly why she did not believe in God. How could see when she saw what she saw on a daily basis.

"Thank you Cam, I'm going to go to my office to write the report on what I found, and then maybe catch a few more hours sleep on my couch" Brennan said before walking off the platform in almost a daze. It was one thing to suspect such cruelty, but to have it proven in front of her eyes, she couldn't believe that anyone was capable of doing such a thing. A need for justice drove away her exhaustion and she sat at her desk typing the report up before submitting it to Booth. Once it was finished she went and laid down on the couch finally allowing the exhaustion she'd been feeling after their discovery overwhelm her and was asleep within minutes.

Booth woke a few hours after Bones had left to an empty bed and was concerned immediately. The other side of the bed was cold which could only mean that Bones had been gone for quite a while. He got up to look and see if she'd left him a note and smiled when he saw that she had. He'd never quite thought Bones would be the note leaving type and wondered what it would read.

_Booth, I had an idea that couldn't wait. I've gone to the lab, please don't worry about me. Once I've proven my idea I will sleep on my couch, you'll find me there when you wake up. I love you B x_

He smiled at the note, even though he was a little concerned about her, she'd been asleep before 8pm last night, the exhaustion on her face clear as day and he could tell from the fact that the bed was cold when he woke and it was now 7.00am that she'd been awake for a few hours. He wanted to head straight to the lab and yell at her for being so irresponsible, that they had more things to be concerned about and how important it was that she got her sleep, but he knew that he couldn't do that.

Bones was Bones and she wasn't going to change because they were having a baby together, and she was trying, she was really trying to do what was the best for the baby. How could he chide her, when she was already taking steps he'd not expected her to take to ensure that the pregnancy progressed normally. He knew that this stage of pregnancy with the nausea and the tiredness would only last another few weeks and then her energy levels would return to a more normal level, he just had to do everything he could to help her through this stage, and that didn't include berating her because she'd woken up at 4am with an epiphany.

He decided to get ready for work and then bring her breakfast at the lab, and ask her about her discovery, knowing Bones she'd just solved the case and secretly he was longing for that. He knew she'd seen how terrible humans could be towards each other, but for some reason she wasn't able to get over this latest example of human cruelty. He decided that he would do his best to get her to open up to him about why this case was bothering her so much so they could get it out of the way and enjoy their weekend with Parker.

He arrived at the lab an hour later with decaf coffee and one of those muffins she loved that he couldn't even imagine eating. It was full of bran or something else that was healthy and for once he was thankful that she was so concious of her eating, that was one thing he didn't have to worry about, she actually enjoyed healthy food more than junk food, and he cringed as he thought of all of the weird yet healthy things she might crave later on in the pregnancy. Wondering how many health food stores he'd have to raid in the middle of the night had him smiling as he walked into her office expecting to see her at her desk typing away.

He found her still asleep on the couch, her face angelic in sleep and he was loathe to wake her but knew if he didn't get some food into her soon, the morning sickness would make an appearance and her blood sugar would drop even further and he didn't want to have to deal with her fainting on him right now. So he gently woke her and smiled as she slowly regained consciousness.

"Booth, what time is it?" Brennan asked, quickly glancing at the clock and felt relief that it was only a quarter to nine. She'd slept for a solid three hours without even stirring once, she was in exactly the same position she'd fell asleep in, actually she couldn't even remember falling asleep, she'd laid down and the next minute Booth had woken her.

"It's almost nine, I brought you breakfast and coffee" Booth said, gently brushing some hair out of her eyes and then gently kissing her hoping to convey by action that everything was okay between them and she didn't have to worry. He knew she was expecting him to have something to say about the events of the morning, and he wanted to assure her in whatever way he could that what he was going to say was good.

"Thank you Booth, I – I'm sorry I left so early this morning, did you get my note?" Brennan asked, looking into his eyes to try and read his expression, although she generally lacked the ability to read expression she'd become more familiar with Booth's since they had become a couple and she was surprised to read no recrimination in his eyes, only tenderness.

"Bones, I'm not angry that you left this morning, I know you think I'm going to be upset, but so long as it doesn't happen all the time and you do try to get some rest after, if you wake with an idea and need to explore it, it's okay, you're you Bones and I wouldn't want to change you" Booth said tenderly kissing her again to cement his words. He needed her to understand that he loved her, all of her, even the impulsive her that had epiphanies and couldn't let them go till they were explored, even if it meant her waking in the middle of the night and heading to the lab to explore those ideas.

"So, what did you discover?" Booth asked as he helped her up from the couch, watching her carefully for any signs of dizziness. He handed her the muffin and smiled as she picked it up and began eating it absently, watching him as he watched her. He could tell she was trying to figure him out, and he could tell that it was because he'd surprised her. She was halfway through the muffin before he could see the expression on her face that meant that she'd accepted his actions and could now answer his question.

"Anthony, the victim was drugged with a powerful neuromuscular blocker that rendered him paralysed, which explains how only the victim's mother and the priest were able to kill him" Brennan answered him as she finished off the muffin and took a sip of her coffee. She could tell it was decaf immediately and smiled at his thoughtfulness. Despite knowing she could have a small amount of caffeine every day she'd made the switch to decaf the moment she'd learnt of her pregnancy. It was strange but she'd even developed a strange aversion to the smell of caffeinated coffee, not even realising before she'd become pregnant that not only did decaf coffee taste different but that it smelt different.

"I emailed the report to your office" Brennan said, breaking herself out of her thoughts and watching the man she loved as he ate a donut and drank his coffee. She could tell that he was concerned for her, and while she couldn't understand why he wasn't launching into the tirade she'd been expecting she was grateful for it.

"I'll head over to the office in a bit to take a look, and I'll do a search to see if either the priest or the mother had been prescribed the neuromuscular blocker, did you manage to sleep much after you'd made your discovery? Should I take you home?" Booth asked watching her face as she took in the question.

"Actually if you could take me home that would be good, I've done all I can for the moment, we've established cause of death, found the murder weapon and the drug used to render him paralysed, the rest is up to you Booth, but I would like to be there when you interrogate the Priest and the mother" Brennan answered shocking him, she could see but admitted to herself that she was tired enough that she risked making a mistake if she stayed at the lab. She figured some more sleep and then maybe some writing would be a productive way to spend this day.

"I - of course, but Bones you don't have to go home if you don't want to, I don't want you to think I am going to try and run your life now that you're pregnant, I might get a little over-protective as you get further along, but we are in this together, if you want to stay at the lab, I trust you and I know you'll take care of yourself" Booth told her, wanting to stress to her the last part of his sentence. He did trust her and knew she would do all she could to take care of herself, the fact that he'd found her asleep on her couch and not still working when he'd walked in was proof enough of that. The old Bones would still be working, not able to care about the affect that would have on the baby inside her.

"Booth, I'm tired and feeling a little nauseous, I know you trust me, so trust that this is what I want to do, I'm going to sleep some more, hopefully not throw up today and then later on I'm going to write, I have to submit the next chapters for my book and I haven't had time to lately with this case" Brennan explained and then leaned up the small distance in their heights and kissed him, deepening it once she felt him respond. When she ended the kiss she stroked his cheek and let her hand fall into his. Without words she told him all he needed to know.

"Okay then, well I'll drive you home and then I'll get onto those reports, hopefully we'll have enough to interrogate the priest and mother tomorrow" Booth said, as they walked out of her office hand in hand not caring if others saw them. Both knew an official announcement on the pregnancy and their relationship would have to happen soon, but for now they were content knowing that the important people knew. Stopping in her tracks a thought occurred to Brennan.

"Bones?" Booth asked, wondering if another epiphany had occurred within her brilliant mind, but the look on her face told her otherwise.

"Sweets, we haven't told Sweets" Brennan said, as she realised that an important person had been left out of their telling of their news. Although neither of them liked to admit it openly, Sweets was almost like their older son, and although he was their psychologist and contracted to the FBI, she was sure that he would have kept their secret for a little while if he was sure that they would tell eventually. She'd come to think of him like a little brother really, and the thought that she hadn't even thought to tell him bothered her.

"Tell me what?" Sweets asked as he walked towards them and watched amusedly as their hands dropped from the others immediately. He could instantly read guilt on their faces and wondered if he should just let them off the hook. He knew they'd been keeping a secret from him, and after seeing them walk out of Brennan's office hand in hand, he'd immediately deduced what that secret was. Although a little hurt that they hadn't come to him, he understood and he immediately wanted to assure them that he was not going to threaten their partnership. He'd already had numerous discussions with the Deputy Director and Director on what would happen if they did finally give into their feelings for each other and all parties had agreed the partnership would remain in tact no matter what.

"Can this wait till later Sweets, I- er I need to take Bones home" Booth said not knowing how to extricate themselves from this situation. He looked over at Bones and saw that she was beginning to lose the battle with the nausea she'd admitted to feeling earlier. Grabbing her gently he rushed her into her office just in time for her to lose her stomach contents into her trash bin. He gently rubbed her back until the spasms subsided and had almost forgotten Sweet's presence until he cleared his throat.

"Is Dr Brennan okay?" Sweets asked immediately concerned. He'd never seen Brennan throw up, had always suspected that she had no gag reflex at all, but watching her lose her breakfast into that trash bin had rendered his assumption invalid. He wanted to do something to help, but had no idea what to do, so he stayed where he was standing hoping Booth would give him some instruction he could follow.

"Yes, she'll be okay" Booth said tenderly as the spasms finally subsided and she fell back against him completely exhausted, her face sweaty and pale. It took everything in him to refrain from picking her up and carrying her to his car, but he knew she would be mortified if he did that, so he held her until she regained enough energy to get up. He was stroking her hair gently when he watched her eyes flutter and then she fainted in his arms. Panic immediately set in, but he shook it off quickly and tried to rouse her, when that failed he barked out an order to Sweets to call an ambulance. He gently moved her into the recovery position and continued to try and rouse her, breathing a sigh of relief when she finally opened her eyes.

"Don't move Bones, just lie there for a little while, I think your blood sugar dropped, we have an ambulance on the way" Booth said gently hoping her stubborn streak would not rear its ugly head and she'd just listen to him. Thankfully for Booth she currently lacked the energy to move, plus every time she tried to lift her head a little dizziness clouded her vision. It was taking everything she had not to slip into unconsciousness again, which she knew would not be good for the baby. She let her hand drift to her stomach as she thought about the baby and the possible causes for her to faint.

"I'm okay Booth, I just need to eat more and be able to drink more" Brennan explained when the dizziness finally went away. The ambulance finally arrived and they told her and Booth the same thing before getting her settled onto the bed and wheeling her off into the ambulance. They were both quiet on the way to the hospital, neither of them able to articulate what they were thinking. Once they reached the hospital she was taken in and examined immediately and their fears were relieved immediately. The doctor told them that she had been right, she'd fainted due to low blood sugar and she was slightly dehydrated.

"She's going to be fine, but we do need to find a way to relieve the morning sickness she is experiencing, that is what is preventing her from being able to get the nutrients she needs and the hydration she needs, if you like we can do an ultrasound so you can both be assured that the baby is okay?" The doctor explained to them and smiled when they both nodded. She walked away to go and organise the ultrasound leaving them to take in the events that had just occurred.

"Booth I'm sorry, I have been trying to eat enough and drink enough, but I don't seem to be doing a good enough job" Brennan said, immediately taking the blame for the predicament she was in. Although she'd known the cause of her fainting, the desire to see the baby and see for herself that everything was okay was overwhelming.

"It's okay Bones, you've been pretty sick, it's no one's fault, as you keep telling me it just means your body is producing enough of the hormones to keep the pregnancy going, and you know what, as bad as it sounds we get to see the baby early which I am really excited about" Booth said, stroking her hair as the doctor walked in with the ultrasound machine. Booth watched as the doctor prepped her stomach, rubbing the gel over it so they could see the baby inside.

Both of them watched in awe as the grainy picture of their baby appeared on the screen and seconds later the fast whirring sound that was their baby's heartbeat. Tears formed in both of their eyes as they saw indisputable proof that their baby was alive and well nestled safely in it's mother's womb.

"Everything looks good from here, you can't see a lot, but there is the heart" the doctor said pointing to the screen and smiling at the couple next to her. She pointed out a few other things that she could discern at this early stage of pregnancy and watched as they stared transfixed at the screen.

"The baby is measuring just what you'd expect for 8 weeks and has a healthy heart rate, everything is looking great, we just need to get this morning sickness sorted out for you and you'll be well on your way to having a healthy baby" The doctor told them smiling as they tore their eyes from the screen to take in her words.

"I'm going to prescribe you some anti-nausea medication, I need you to take it every day until you're 12 weeks, then we'll review, it won't rid you of the nausea completely, but you should be able to keep the majority of your food and water down, which is important for both yours and the baby's health" the Doctor explained as she wrote out a prescription for Brennan.

"I don't think we need to keep you in here overnight, we'll just give you some fluids for a few hours and then you should be able to be discharged, I suggest you get some rest and then get your partner to pick you up in a few hours" The doctor said as she cleaned off the gel from Brennan's stomach and then rolled the machine out of the room.

"Wow Bones, that was amazing" Booth said as he rested his hand on her now covered abdomen, feeling where the baby they'd just seen rested.

"I concur" Brennan said sleepily, the effects of the day beginning to get to her. She knew this was a battle she couldn't win, but she wanted Booth to be assured she was fine before she finally succumbed to sleep.

"Booth, I'm fine and to be honest I'm exhausted how about you go to work for a few hours and then you can come pick me up and take me home" Brennan suggested, looking into Booth's eyes and seeing the worry in them.

"Okay Bones, but only because I know you are two seconds away from falling asleep, get some rest and I'll see you in a few hours" Booth said kissing her gently and watching as her eyes closed involuntarily. He watched her fall asleep and then slowly walked out of the room before stopping just outside of her room and letting out a big breath. She was okay, the baby was okay, everyone was okay. He said that to himself a few times to prevent his over-protective nature from kicking in and then made his way to his car. Hearing his phone ring he picked it up as he started the car.

"Booth, it's Angela how is she?" Angela asked a little frantically, she'd wanted to head straight to the hospital but had been stopped by her husband and a fussy infant.

"She's fine Ange, just a drop in blood sugar and slight dehydration, their giving her some fluids and letting her rest and I'll take her home this afternoon" Booth reassured Angela smiling as he heard her breath out a sigh of relief.

"The doctor has given her some anti-nausea medication which she has to take every day and I guess I am going to have to do what I can to convince her to take it easy for a few days until she regains her strength" Booth said, wondering how he was going to go with that battle.

"I don't think you'll have to convince her Booth, she's changed, she'll do what she has to" Angela said certain of this. She'd watched her best friend the last few weeks and seen the subtle shift that had been occurring in her best friends thinking. She'd seen the proof of this in the fact that she'd had to wake her from her couch quite a few times in the last week, that she hadn't argued when she or Booth had tried to take her to lunch, in the small containers of snacks that had appeared on Brennan's desk without Booth or herself's prompting.

"Ange I have to go, I've got a lot of work to do before I pick her up from the hospital, just let the other's know she's okay, and to not be worried, and please don't say anything about the pregnancy" Booth said, thinking immediately of Sweets who he'd left staring at them when they'd taken her in the ambulance. He knew he was going to have to explain things to Sweets and he was not looking forward to the conversation.

"Hey Booth" Sweets said as he stood up from a chair in Booth's office. Booth groaned internally as he realised that the conversation he was dreading was going to happen earlier than he had hoped. May as well get it over with he thought as he motioned for Sweets to sit and sat down in his chair.

"What's going on?" Sweets asked the question had been going around in his head as he'd watched Dr Brennan being carted off to the hospital.

_Leaving it there... yes I know a little cliffhangerish, but it's only Sweets and as their baby duck he will forgive them for keeping the truth from him. Up next the awkward conversation with said baby duck and a surprise visit from someone. Enjoy_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Justice is a dish best served quickly**

**Authors Note: Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, life's been a bit stressful which has made it hard to slow myself down enough to write. Thank you for your continued support in this story. **

_"What's going on?" Sweets asked the question had been going around in his head as he'd watched Dr Brennan being carted off to the hospital._

"Bones wanted to be here when we told you, but I guess seeing as she's in the hospital at the moment she won't mind me telling you, but you need to keep this to yourself for the moment until we are ready to announce it officially" Booth warned, studying Sweets' face to see if he realised how serious he was about this.

"Bones is pregnant" Booth told Sweets' simply, not elaborating on anything just watching the psychologist for his reaction.

"Wow, congratulations man and of course I'll keep it to myself, can I ask how far along she is?" Sweets asked genuinely pleased for them both. He'd known more was going on than them being in a relationship and Dr Brennan's illness confirmed it. To be honest he was relieved, he'd been worried it was something much more serious than a pregnancy. As he thought on the pregnancy he began to laugh a little thinking about Dr Brennan and hormones.

"She's 8 weeks, now what are you laughing about?" Booth asked a bit annoyed with the psychologist. Although he liked the kid, he could find the strangest things funny, a lot like Bones sometimes. In fact those two had more in common than most realised.

"I was just thinking about how pregnancy hormones might affect Dr Brennan, especially with how territorial she is over her remains already, you are going to have your work cut out for you when it comes to crime scenes" Sweets said, laughing again but stopping quickly when he saw Booth's glowering face right in front of his, not knowing just how quickly the man had been able to get up from his desk and get into his personal space.

"Yes well you keep those kind of thoughts to yourself, because none of us know just how later pregnancy is going to affect Bones and she might just shock you, God knows she's already done that enough times in my lifetime" Booth admitted thinking back over the last few weeks and how many times Bones had already managed to shock him during this pregnancy and she was only barely 8 weeks along.

"Of course Booth, but we really need to talk about all of this, both you and Dr Brennan, this is a major development in your relationship and it is going to have a major affect on your partnership and how it is run, the FBI is going to want you both to come up with a plan on how long Dr Brennan will remain your partner during the pregnancy, and how you intend to keep her safe during her pregnancy, you two do run into your fare share of trouble" Sweets told Booth switching straight into FBI psychologist mode, from what little he knew of pregnancy, he knew they had about 6-8 weeks before Brennan was going to begin to show and then there would be no hiding the pregnancy. He believed the best course of action would be for Booth and Brennan to give as much notice as possible to the FBI of the pregnancy and not try and hide it from them.

"Fine, whatever Sweets, but for now until I talk to Bones about this can you please keep the pregnancy to yourself?" Booth asked, pretty much knowing the answer but needing to ask the question. He knew that he and Bones were going to have to have a serious conversation about the pregnancy soon, there was no more basking in the news and he knew they didn't have long before Bones would be showing and it would be impossible to keep it a secret.

"Of course Booth, and if there is anything I can help you with, just let me know" Sweets said as he went to leave Booth's office but was stopped by Booth.

"Actually, are you up for a couple of interrogations? I did promise Bones she could be there for them, but after this last development I don't know if she could handle them, this case has been hitting her hard and I can't figure out why" Booth asked, knowing his last comment was going to open the door for shrinking with Sweets, but maybe the kid would be able to figure it out.

"Of course, when do you need me?" Sweets asked, purposely ignoring the last part of Booth's words. He had a feeling he'd just been given permission to shrink Dr Brennan and he was not going to waste this opportunity. Booth wasn't the first person to come to him and express concern over how Dr Brennan was handling this case and he hoped he'd get an opportunity to talk to Dr Brennan about it. It wasn't often she was affected so emotionally by a case, and he supposed that the pregnancy was probably a part of it, but there seemed to be more here then that.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to look over these reports Bones sent me on the poison that was used on the victim and then I'm going to see if either the priest or the mother had access to it, with luck we'll have enough proof to hit both of them hard tomorrow" Booth said his thoughts already back to the case as he powered up his computer and opened up his email. He nodded to Sweets who knew that was a dismissal and promptly left his office and then got down to business.

By 12pm he had enough proof that the mother was the one in possession of the poison and he'd also taken a look at Angela's digital representation of the murder and everything seemed to fit. The only thing left to do was to gain a confession. He sighed deeply as he thought of what could drive a mother to kill her own son. He knew that religion was the motive and it almost made him feel ashamed to be a catholic because he knew his own religion condemned homosexuality and although he didn't believe anyone had the right to tell someone who they should love, it had taken a lot of soul searching to rise above the things his church preached about homosexuality. Having an Aunt that was a lesbian certainly made things easier, he couldn't have imagined ever telling his Aunt that the way she lived her life was wrong and definitely couldn't imagine killing her for it.

He was broken from his thoughts with a text message from Bones and he smiled as he read it. It was another change he'd not expected from her, just little texts every now and then to let him know how she was, especially if she'd had a particularly difficult day or sensed that he had. She was getting too good at reading him and he silently cursed her steep learning curve, he'd known that letting her in would mean she would eventually know everything about him, but he hadn't anticipated just how quickly she'd been able to pick up on his cues.

He quickly replied to Bones' text message and then went to pick them both something up for lunch, before picking her up from the hospital. When he got there the doctor had assured him she'd slept the majority of the time and that she'd not been ill the entire time that he'd been gone. Once the doctor had removed the cannula that they'd been pushing the fluid through, she signed Bones' release papers and they were allowed to leave the hospital. Booth took her hand gently and ushered her out of the door. He was surprised by how much better she looked just from the few hours sleep she'd gotten and the fluid they'd given her. He hoped this anti-nausea medication worked better than the last one they'd prescribed, because he could see that she really needed a break from the nausea.

They took a quick walk outside the hospital grounds and found a place to sit so they could eat the lunch Booth had brought them. Once he saw she'd consumed more than half her meal he decided he could broach the subject of the pregnancy and FBI with her.

"Um Bones, I had to tell Sweets about the baby today, he was concerned after your trip to the hospital and wanted to know what was going on" Booth told her, watching her face for a reaction.

"I had a feeling you would have to, he's very astute" Bones said looking into Booth's eyes and seeing the worry in them.

"What is it Booth?" Brennan asked, her thoughts instantly going to whether the pregnancy would mean their partnership would be in jeopardy.

"Sweets mentioned it might be a good idea to tell the FBI sooner rather than later about the baby, and that we might have to come up with a plan for how we are going to deal with the pregnancy and our partnership, I have to admit I hadn't thought a whole lot about that, with you being sick and the case it's not been something I had considered" Booth told her, wanting to be as honest as he could. They were going to have to make some decisions, and they'd also need some advice on the FBI's rules in regards to pregnant partners.

"I think he's right, I don't think it would be a good idea to hide this from the FBI, besides in a few weeks I'm going to be showing and we won't be able to hide it" Bones told Booth smiling as she remembered her thought about her lab coat earlier that morning. She knew she had 6, maybe 8 weeks before she'd be unable to hide her pregnancy as easily as she could now.

"I'm glad we agree on that, but Bones we also need to talk about how this pregnancy is going to affect our partnership, I don't want you to think I'm being over protective, but I don't know if I will be able to handle you being with me out in the field when you are further along, I know you can take care of yourself, but from what you've told me, your centre of gravity is going to shift as the weight from the baby increases, and I think that is going to throw off your martial arts" Booth said, wincing slightly as he waited for the fall out from that sentence.

"You are right, as I move into the second trimester of the pregnancy my centre of gravity will begin to shift and I maybe more off balance than normal, but I do believe I should be able to be out in the field with you until at least my sixth month of pregnancy, and once we pass that stage I could reduce my participation in cases to crime scene evidence collection and being in the lab, what do you think?" Brennan asked, willing to compromise a little more on that if pushed, but she thought it was a reasonable proposal.

"Are you kidding Bones? You completely amaze me, I would never have thought I'd be able to get you to agree to those conditions much less you suggest them yourself, it sounds like a great plan to me, but we'll have to get the FBI's okay first, I have no idea what their rules are when it comes to pregnant partners" Booth said taking her hand and stroking it gently, still completely in awe of this woman. He'd been ready to listen to her tell him about pregnant mothers in fields having babies and how she'd be able to be out in the field up until she delivered the baby.

"Of course, if the FBI has stricter rules, I will have to concede to them, but just know unless there are complications, I plan to work up until I am due to give birth, I want to be able to have the extra time to be able to spend with the baby after it's born" Bones told him in a tone that brokered no arguments. She was willing to make concessions for this pregnancy and for him but she knew she would struggle if forced to stay home for the last few weeks of her pregnancy.

"I understand Bones, believe me I don't want to have to contend with a bored you and Angela worked up until she went into labour with Mikey and it didn't seem to do her any harm" Booth teased gently and then kissed her gently, before taking her hand and leading her back to the SUV.

"Before I take you home there is one more thing I want to confess to, I, er I asked Sweets to do the interrogations with me" Booth told her not explaining just yet why. He knew she'd know why, but he wanted to see what her reaction was.

"What? Why?" Brennan asked, a little hurt that he'd decided that without consulting her. Although she could guess at his reasoning, she'd hoped that he would have at least talked to her before making the decision.

"Well Bones, you were hospitalised today, and I know you're exhausted, and you just aren't dealing well with this case, I don't know why and I hope you know you can talk to me about it, but with all of those things considered I think the interrogations will be too stressful for you" Booth told her, seeing the flash of hurt in her eyes and hung his head a little knowing he should have discussed this with her before making the decision, his desire to protect her had overcome his senses on this occasion.

"I accept your reasons Booth, but I wish you'd spoken to me about it first before making the decision, I am your partner and I believe I have the right to say whether I think I can handle an interrogation or not, I know you are trying to protect me, and I know I haven't been able to compartmentalise this case like I normally can, but I don't need you making decisions for me Booth" Bones told him, wanting him to know that she was hurt, and disappointed that despite all the changes she'd made lately in trying to do the right thing for the baby, he still didn't trust her to make the right choice when it came to things like this.

"I know I'm sorry Bones, it's a hard habit to break, protecting you and I don't think I'll ever be able to stop, but I should have talked to you and we should have made the decision together, do you want me to call Sweets and tell him you'll be doing the interrogation with me?" Booth asked, knowing he needed to get this right, cursing his over-protective nature.

"No Booth, it was the right decision, it just should have been made by the both of us, rather than be a unilateral decision by you" Brennan said taking his hand in hers, letting him know that although she was hurt, she was by no means angry with him. She loved him as he was, and she knew that she was going to have to contend with situations like this with him every now and then and she had to admit, that she probably wouldn't be of much use to him in an interrogation room at the moment.

"Let's go home, I think I need another nap" Brennan told him, kissing him to let him know that everything was okay.

"Okay, but Bones I really think we need to talk later about why this case is affecting you so much" Booth told her hoping that she would agree.

"Again you are right Booth, but right now I am too exhausted for that kind of conversation" Bones said smiling up at him as he started the engine. By the time they arrived home she'd already fallen asleep in the car and he was loathe to wake her, so he gently lifted her from the car, smiling as she didn't even stir. He took the elevator up to her apartment and almost had to wake her when he had trouble getting the key in the door. He blew out a breath of relief when the door finally opened and then carried her to her bedroom depositing her gently on the bed. He took a quick look at what she was wearing and decided it was loose enough and probably comfortable enough for her to sleep in. He covered her with the quilt and smiled when she immediately pushed it off and stirred a little before falling back asleep.

He couldn't decide whether to go back to work or not, he'd wanted to ask her if she wanted him to stay and had meant to in the car, but she'd fallen asleep so quickly he was loathe to wake her to ask. A phone call saved him the decision.

"Cam, what is it?" Booth asked wondering what Cam would be calling about.

"Booth, Anthony's mother has given herself up to the FBI and convinced the priest to as well, they both want to make a confession, you better get down to the bureau pronto" Cam told him, knowing that he'd be with Dr Brennan due to her trip to the hospital, but figured he'd want to get this case closed as soon as possible. It wasn't very often that their cases ended with the guilty parties confessing without interrogation.

"Of course, let me just let Bones know where I'm going and I'll be right there, can you get Sweets to meet me there?" Booth said grimacing as he realised he'd need to wake Bones up to tell her. He didn't really want to leave her at the moment, but being able to close this case today would be a godsend for them.

"No problem Seeley, I hope Dr Brennan is feeling better, Angela told me she'd been released from the hospital?" Cam asked not wanting to keep him on the phone much longer, but needing to know Brennan was okay.

"Yeah, she's asleep right now, they gave her some fluids and a new anti-nausea medication to counteract the nausea, she seems better, less pale" Booth told Cam, smiling at the concern he heard in his friend's voice. It was an unlikely friendship that had struck up between Bones and Cam, after their rocky start but he knew just how much his friend cared about Bones and he knew he could trust her to do whatever was in Bones best interest, even when Bones wasn't in agreeance.

"That's good Seeley, well I'll let you go so you can get to the bureau" Cam said before hanging up leaving him watching Bones as she slept, unaware of the events that had just taken place. He just hoped this wasn't a stall tactic from the mother and the priest and that by this time tomorrow the case would be wrapped up.

"Bones" Booth said gently shaking Bones to wake her enough that he could tell her he had to leave.

"Mmm" Bones said sleepily opening one eye to look at the man she loved.

"I have to go, Anthony's mother and the priest are at the FBI wanting to give a confession, with luck we'll have the case closed by the end of the day" Booth said, stroking her face gently, still not wanting to leave her but knowing he had to.

"What do think made them decide to do that?" Brennan asked groggily, still not completely awake but awake enough to have taken in what Booth had told her.

"Guilt I am guessing, you can only live with it so long before it has to come out" Booth said, continuing to stroke her face, in the hopes that it would keep her relaxed enough to fall asleep again after he left.

"I'll bring you home your favourite pizza for dinner okay, and we'll veg out in front of the television to celebrate" Booth said smiling as she lost her battle with keeping her eyes open.

"Sounds nice" She told him sleepily trying to stay awake, but slowly loosing the battle to do so.

"Sleep baby, I'll be back soon" Booth told her gently kissing her before getting off the bed to get ready to leave.

"Booth, I love you" Bones murmured sleepily before drifting completely off to sleep, not seeing the smile on her partner's face and not hearing his returned I love you.

He watched her sleep for another few moments before finally being able to drag himself away from her. She looked so vulnerable when she was sleeping it was almost impossible to be away from her when she slept. He'd learnt that early on in their partnership, well before they'd acted on their feelings for each other. The few times they'd slept in the same bed he'd found himself watching her if she'd fallen asleep before him and marvelling at just how young she looked when she was asleep. It had been part of why he'd fallen in love with her, that vulnerability that people rarely got to see was one of the things he loved the most about her.

As he drove to the FBI, he turned his thoughts to the case and the victim's mother. He was going to finally learn the real reason she'd participated in the death of her son, and he wasn't looking forward to learning just how cruel a mother could be to her child. As much as he believed in God and his church, he could not believe God would ever condone killing another human being for the way they lived their life.

As he walked into the interrogation room he looked at Anthony's mother, saw her tears and bloodshot eyes, and was unable to feel anything but contempt for her. He'd do his best to try and understand her reasoning, but in the end she'd taken a life, something she could never undo and all the I'm sorry's in the world would never make up for it.

"Mrs Feldman, I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my colleague Dr Sweets, I believe you have a confession you'd like to make" Booth said simply and waited for the story to unfold.

_Okay leaving it there because I really want to think about what would drive a woman to murder her own child simply for the way they live their life. I know I meant to bring Parker into this chapter, but this one just developed on it's own. I am basing the way Brennan is handling the pregnancy on the things I observed during Season 7 of Bones. She was constantly home before Booth at the end of the day, and seemed quite determined to ensure she was eating enough etc to ensure the baby's health. I won't be doing any major time jumps during this story as the whole theory behind this, is to give insight into what I think we could have missed during the months between season 6 & 7. Maybe a couple of weeks every now and then to advance things enough to keep the story interesting. Until next time :)_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**All out in the open**

_"Mrs Feldman, I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my colleague Dr Sweets, I believe you have a confession you'd like to make" Booth said simply and waited for the story to unfold._

Booth returned home to Brennan later that night completely drained from the confession. Three hours later both Anthony's mother and the priest were in custody both charged with first degree murder. All he wanted now was to bring dinner home to his beautiful partner and hold her all night. He needed to feel her love to assure himself that people like Anthony's mother and the priest were a rarity in the world.

He paused at Bones' front door and took a big breath trying to calm himself before he walked inside. Part of him hoped she'd be too tired to talk about the confession, although he knew that as tired as she'd been, she'd slept a lot of the day and would probably have a burst of energy. Especially as her old sleeping patterns hadn't completely left, insomnia still crept in there sometimes, although they usually made good use of her bouts of insomnia.

He opened the door and walked into the apartment and dropped his keys and the pizza onto the coffee table and went to look for his beautiful anthropologist. He didn't expect to find her still in bed, but smiled when he saw she was still sleeping soundly. He knew he needed to wake her, the doctor had suggested getting her to eat regular small meals to help with the nausea and it had been over four hours since she'd eaten something, but as always when she was sleeping he struggled to wake her. He was saved from needing to when she rolled over and opened one eye and smiled at him watching her.

"Booth, why are you standing there watching me?" Brennan asked, still not used to his fascination with watching her sleep.

"You have no idea how beautiful you are when you sleep Bones, are you hungry? I bought your favourite pizza as promised" Booth told her, wanting to keep conversation on light things in the hopes he could delay her questions about the interrogation.

"Yes I'm actually quite hungry, but I need to go to the bathroom first, you get everything ready and I'll be out in a moment" Brennan said as she got up slowly not wanting to cause a drop in her blood pressure from getting up too quickly. She headed off to the bathroom and then headed to the kitchen when she was finished.

"This looks great Booth" Brennan said, and walked over to him and kissed him for his thoughtfulness. She wasn't sure how much she'd be able to eat, but she was going to do her best. She did feel better from all the sleep she'd had that day, although she knew she was likely to find it difficult to sleep later. She smiled as she thought of the things she and Booth could do while she was awake and sat down next to him and tucked into the pizza. She didn't think to ask about the interrogation until her second slice of pizza and found she wasn't really looking forward to hearing the answer.

"So Booth, the interrogation how did it go?" Brennan asked as she closed the lid to her box of pizza. She suddenly didn't feel like eating any more and knew if she did she'd be sick.

"Are you sure you're up to talking about this Bones?" Booth asked, stalling as he thought about whether he should tell her everything, and then quickly shook off the thought, he knew it would do no good to not tell Bones everything, because she'd just find out on her own.

"Yes, it's my case too Booth and I want, no I need to understand why that woman killed her son" Brennan told him, as she grabbed for his hand, needing to be touching a part of him as she listened to his tale.

"Anthony's mother killed her son because she believed she was saving him Bones, she'd talked to her priest after Anthony had revealed his sexuality to her, and turns out this priest was into the old testament a bit too much, he convinced her that Anthony's sexuality was the devil in him and together they decided that he needed to die to get the devil out of him" Booth told her, gently rubbing her hand which was entwined with his, taking a breath to continue his recounting of the confession Anthony's mother and the priest had given him earlier.

"She thought if he continued to live his life the way he was, he would slowly infect others with the evil from the devil, so the priest and she decided to stone him for his sins, that being an acceptable punishment from the old testament and they killed him" Booth said as he watched for her reaction and was not surprised to see tears in her eyes. He wished she'd tell him what was going through her head, why this case was affecting her so much. He only hoped that Sweets would be able to get a read on her, or that the pressure from keeping it all in would finally allow her to let it out. He'd prefer if she'd talk to him and not have to involve Sweets at all, but he knew she often struggled to understand her own emotions and it was quite likely she didn't quite understand right now why this case was affecting her so much either.

"I'm sorry Booth, but this is one of the reasons I can't believe in this God of yours, how can a supposedly benevolent God condone stoning whether it's from the old testament of your bible or the new, I just don't understand how she could believe she was saving her son" Brennan told him, tears running down her face but she was so angry at this woman who had murdered her own son for the way he lived that she didn't care.

"Angela is my best friend, and she has slept with and had relationships with women, does that mean your god condemns her too? I know the catholic religion still condemns homosexuality, I just can't understand how a man as intelligent as you can accept that, what if I told you I'd slept with a woman once, would that make me just as bad as Anthony?" Brennan asked, as she revealed part of the reason she'd been distressed by this case. Although it had been a long time ago, this case had brought up memories of that confusing time in her life.

"No Bones, I don't condemn Angela, nor would I condemn you if you'd slept with a woman, I never told you this, but my Aunty was, is gay and I could never have told her it was not okay to be her, I love her and I get on really well with her partner, I've never agreed with the catholic church about homosexuality, it's one area that I constantly question with the church" Booth told her, wanting her to know his stance on this, to know that he didn't follow his church blindly, he knew enough about biology to know that homosexuality occurred in nature, so why wouldn't it occur in humans and he couldn't believe that the God he loved and had faith in would ever condemn anyone for being attracted to the same sex.

"I did sleep with a woman, more than once, it was not long after my first sexual experience with a man, I'd met this woman at north western and she fascinated me completely, I was so confused because I'd never felt an attraction to another woman before and it took a long time for me to decide to do anything about it, and I haven't ever felt an attraction for another woman since, not even Ange" Brennan smiled trying to bring some levity to the conversation. She hadn't thought about this woman in such a long time, she'd almost forgotten the experience.

"Bones, I love you no matter what you've done in your life, and as far as I'm concerned there is nothing for you to explain, love is love, no matter who you love and if you experienced any happiness with her, then I'm glad, because I know that you had some confusing times while you were studying at north western, especially a certain professor" Booth told her, stroking her arm now in an effort to show her that he truly had no desire to judge her, nor did he believe she'd done anything wrong.

"Is that why you've struggled to compartmentalise this case?" Booth asked, wondering if there was more to things than her having a fling with a woman in her past.

"Not completely, I think I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to be somebody's mother, completely responsible for their protection and well being and knowing that a mother who supposedly loved her son murdered him makes me wonder about what kind of mother I'm going to be, I worry if I'll be emotionally available to our child and if I'd be able to relate to them properly or if they are going to be another person who struggles to understand me" Brennan told him finally revealing some of her bigger worries about becoming a parent. She'd felt these same concerns when she'd asked him to be her sperm donor a few years ago, but she'd been unable to voice those concerns then, because everyone was already questioning her ability to parent a child.

"Bones, you are going to be an amazing mother, a perfectionist I'm sure, and a little fierce about our baby and it's progress, but I have no doubt that our baby will have no trouble connecting with you and vice versa" Booth assured her and smiled as she curled up next to him absently tracing patterns on his knee.

"To be honest Bones I have my own fears about being a parent for the second time, this time I'm not going to get breaks away from our child, I'll be a full time dad and in truth I worry that I'm not always the best dad to Parker - " Booth said but was interrupted by Bones kissing him gently.

"You are a wonderful father Booth, it was one of my main reasons for asking you to be the father of my child when I was going to do it on my own, I didn't realise it then, but I do now, there is no-one I'd rather raise a child with than you" Brennan told him as she kissed him again, this time probing his mouth and opening it to slip her tongue into his mouth. Both of them groaned into the kiss as it deepened further and Bones felt herself being lowered gently onto the couch as his hands began to roam her body.

"Are you sure -" Booth began but was interrupted again by her kissing him and wrapping her body around his pulling him towards her, cutting all thoughts about stopping this from his head. He gasped as he felt her grasp his hips and ground herself into him, exciting him further. He moved his mouth from her lips down her neck and sucked and bit gently at her pulse point, eliciting further moans from her which only excited him more. He felt her begin to unbutton his shirt and briefly wondered if they should move this to the bedroom before all thoughts when out of his head again as he felt his shirt being pulled from his body and her hands moving to his belt.

He placed his hands on hers to prevent her from being able to take his pants off and concentrated on removing her shirt so he had access to her beautiful breasts. He deftly removed her bra and then kissed her again allowing her breasts to rub against his bare chest. He knew she liked to feel them harden against his chest and was rewarded with a gasp from her as he stopped kissing her and bent to take one of her already hard nipples into his mouth.

"Booth, gentle, they are very sensitive" she rasped out, the sensation a little too intense for her, not painful just intense and he nodded and instead of sucking on the nipple used his tongue to lick all around her nipple, watching her for any sign of pain, and saw her eyes roll back in her head and knew he was getting it right. After a little bit he switched nipples, watching again to gauge her reactions and soon got caught up again as he watched her and saw her eyes darken to a deep shade of blue and knew she was almost ready for him. He grinned as she began to arch up against him grinding her pelvis into his erection and wanted to wait until he could see desperation in her eyes before he finally took pity on them both.

He kept alternating using his tongue on her nipples and then bringing his lips up to her neck, finding all of the places that drove her wild, wanting to hear her beg for him to be inside her, no matter how frustrated he got about his own pleasure, he wanted her practically begging him for it, before he gave in. He didn't have to wait long, as he moved back to her breasts he was pulled back up so that she could look him in the eyes.

"Booth, please I need you inside me now" She said, slight desperation showing in her voice as she ground herself into his erection and he knew it was now or never, if she kept rubbing against him both of them were going to lose it before he'd even had a chance to get inside so he quickly pulled her pants off her and removed his own and paused poised to enter her. Although he knew he was torturing them both, he lightly rubbed the tip of his hard penis along her opening, both of them biting off a groan at the sensation, he risked doing it a second time and was rewarded with her pulling him down towards her and biting his shoulder. Still he refused to enter her, wondering how long it would take before she forced him inside her by pushing him down into her.

"Booth, get inside me now" She commanded and looked pleadingly into his eyes, and he was unable to deny her. He slowly sank into her and waited for her to be ready before he began to thrust gently, moving his tongue to her breasts again to keep teasing her, knowing by the time they both finally came, they'd explode from the build up. He smiled as she rose to greet his thrusts and urged him to move faster with her hips. He changed his angle a little so that he would hit the spot he knew drove her wild, especially when his thrusts became stronger, but kept the same pace, maddening them both, knowing in the end it would be worth it.

He listened to her gasp as he turned up the intensity knowing from her sounds and movements that it was time to up the ante. Soon he was thrusting forcefully inside her, both of them meeting each other with each stroke and he knew he wasn't going to hold out much longer, so he kissed her passionately, duelling with her tongue, rocketing her arousal upwards until he felt her begin to clench around him and knew she was almost there, he changed his angle a little more and hit the spot that drove her crazy and was rewarded with a loud groan and then incomprehensible sounds coming from her as she finally reached her peak and began to orgasm around him. The first clench of her muscles from the orgasm triggered his own orgasm and he pumped into her, both of them riding out the pleasure together. When they finally began to come down from their peak both of them were breathing heavily from the exertion and he collapsed onto her boneless before remembering she was pregnant and quickly lifted himself off her.

"Booth, it's okay you won't hurt the baby by being on top of me, the baby is safely protected behind my abdominal muscles" Brennan told him and pulled him back down onto her. She would never admit it to him, but she secretly loved having him on top of her, his weight holding her down, it made her feel safe and loved.

"We should get up any way, the lounge isn't good for either of us to sleep on" Booth said, as he gently pulled out of her and sat up, unable to stop his concern for being on top of her, no matter her assurances.

"Lets take a shower and go to bed then" Brennan suggested as she helped him off the couch and walked towards the shower.

Later that night both of them lay in bed thinking of the days events and all that had been revealed to them. Brennan still couldn't understand how Anthony's mother had thought she'd been saving him by murdering him, and although Booth had assured her that he believed she was going to be a good mother, her own fears about her impending motherhood were still there as strong as ever. Booth was lost in thought about what Brennan had revealed to him about having a sexual relationship with a woman, and although he wasn't imagining a threesome or anything he was intrigued by the fact that she'd once been attracted to someone of the same sex. He turned to ask her about it, but she'd fallen asleep in the last few minutes of his musing and he decided it was a conversation for another day.

The next day was a little better for Brennan, the nausea while still present was not bad enough for her to feel like throwing up thanks to the anti-nausea medicine, and she felt ready to go back to work. She'd already resolved that she would use the time to catch up on paperwork, unless another case came in, in order to ensure that she didn't exert herself too much as she knew she was still recovering from the dehydration and lack of sustenance.

There wasn't much conversation over breakfast, both of them still wiped out from the case and everything else that had happened. Brennan had told Booth of her plans and he told her he was planning to do pretty much the same thing.

"Actually Bones, why don't I bring my paperwork to your office and we can do paperwork together, that way you and I can get our case report done and I can take you to lunch after?" Booth asked, not ready to let her be away from him, despite knowing she was going to take care of herself, and that she was only doing paperwork.

"I'm not going to break Booth, but if you'd like to do paperwork with me, it would be easier for us to write up the case report together" Brennan told him, not knowing why she was acquiescing to his desires, except that she felt a need to be close to him today also. She tried not to grin at the look of triumph on his face, knowing it would only serve to further encourage his alpha male tendencies.

"Thank you Bones, I know you think I'm being an alpha male, but I can't explain it, I just need to be near you at the moment" Booth told her, looking deeply into her eyes so she could see the sincerity.

"I think I understand Booth, besides you have to pick up Parker this afternoon, I thought it might be nice for us to pick him up together?" Brennan suggested, knowing of their plans to tell Parker about the baby during his visit this weekend, and she didn't think Cam would mind her taking off a little early today to be with Booth and Parker.

"That would be great Bones, I think Parker would really like that" Booth said, grinning at her as he thought of how much his son loved his partner. Had he not been so wrapped up in telling himself that Hannah was right for him, he would have seen the difference in the way Parker interacted with Hannah and Bones. Hannah was always trying to impress him, by taking him to the zoo, buying him ice cream, coming home with cool toys, whereas Bones had always just been herself with him, not trying to impress, in fact she'd never really had to try to gain Parker's affection, Parker had been fascinated with her from the first day he'd met her. He chuckled a little as he remembered the questions Parker had asked after meeting Bones at Sid's on Christmas day during their first year as partners.

The day went fairly quickly, nobody questioned his presence in her office and by the time lunch time came around their report was finished and they were both just working on paperwork that had built up during the case, only stopping for toilet breaks and a snack break a couple of hours in. It was after her fourth trip to the toilet in two hours that he began to get a little worried.

"Is it normal for you to er... need to go so often?" Booth asked, he'd been so focused on the other more debilitating symptoms of her pregnancy to notice the increased frequency of her toilet visits, plus he didn't really spend all that much time with her during the day.

"Yes Booth, the hormones from the pregnancy have increased my blood supply, which causes the blood to filter through my kidneys more, increasing the frequency that I need to urinate" Brennan told him, trying to keep it as simple as possible for him.

"So it's normal then?" Booth asked as he smiled at her squinty explanation of what was causing it. He knew she dumbed it down a little for him, but resolved that he'd read up about it later that night to see if he could understand.

"Yes Booth, very normal, lets get some lunch I'm actually hungry for once" Brennan told him laughing at the mock look of shock on his face and punched him gently on the arm for his joke. They headed over to the diner and he once again threw her a mock look of shock when she finished everything on her plate and stole some of his fries as well. He was glad to see that she was feeling better, and was thankful that for the moment the anti-nausea medication seemed to be doing it's job.

After lunch they worked on some more paperwork before it came time to go and pick up Parker from school. They were walking to the door to leave the lab when Booth stopped in his tracks, almost making Brennan bump into him.

"What is it Booth?" Brennan asked worriedly.

"We haven't told Rebecca about the baby, I should have told her before we told Parker, as his mum she deserves to know about something that is going to affect her son" Booth said mentally cursing himself for completely forgetting his son's mother in all of this.

"It's okay Booth, I can go and get Parker and you can go and meet with Rebecca and tell her about the baby, then we can tell Parker whenever you are ready to" Brennan suggested, knowing that Parker was Booth's son, and ultimately should be the person who decided when to tell his son about anything to do with their relationship.

"Thank you Bones, that sounds like a good plan, but we decide together when we are going to tell Parker okay, you and me we are in this together" Booth told her as he ushered her into the parking garage and into his car so he could kiss her and then call Rebecca to organise to meet up. Then he drove her to her apartment so she could pick up her car and go and get Parker from school.

"I'll see you in about two or three hours are you sure you are going to be okay with him? If you need to have a nap, just put the television on for him, he'll be fine" Booth told her, not wanting her to not sleep if she needed to just because she was responsible for Parker.

"Okay Booth, good luck with your talk with Rebecca" Brennan said as she kissed him goodbye and then got into her car. She started up the car and thought about spending the afternoon alone with Parker. She was actually looking forward to it, she'd looked after him a few times for Booth in the past, even when they weren't in a relationship and she'd always enjoyed spending time with the boy. She had no doubt that if she ended up watching television with Parker she'd fall asleep, and if he questioned it, she'd just explain that she'd been unwell and was still getting her strength back. He was a remarkable boy and she knew he'd accept her explanation without hesitation, probably taking it upon himself to look after her much in the same way Booth did.

_Okay going to leave it there because I want to start the next chapter off with Brennan's interaction with Parker opposed against Booth's conversation with Rebecca. I know that there has never been any real indication that Brennan may have ever slept with a woman... but from some comments she'd made on episodes dealing with homosexuality I never saw any indication that she was against it. I hope this wasn't too controversial a move, but I figured Brennan being as open to experimentation as she is, and the way she went about being with a man for the first time, may have decided to give being with a woman a shot, if only for the experience. Anyway... onwards and upwards :)_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Revelations**

**Authors Note: I just noticed that I've just gone over 100 reviews for this story. I want to thank every individual person who has reviewed my story whether it be a positive or critical review. I appreciate all of you for reading this story. I love hearing what you think of it. Thank you for reading and I hope that you continue to enjoy reading this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. Mel**

Brennan arrived at Parker's school with a few minutes to spare and stood outside waiting for him to come out of the school. She knew Booth would have called the school to make sure they knew she was picking him up even though she was on the list of people allowed to pick the boy up from school. She found herself quite excited about spending a little bit of one on one time with Parker, it had been a while since she'd been able to be with him alone.

It had been one of the things she'd disliked the most about Booth's relationship with Hannah, she'd not known her place with Parker any more and whether she was allowed to ask to spend time with him, and had waited for Booth to give her an indication that it was, but he hadn't. She'd not been able to work up the courage to ask him, knowing how much she'd hurt him when she'd rejected him and left DC to go the Maluku Islands, effectively abandoning Parker also. She'd often wondered if part of his anger over her not staying in contact was partially due to her not staying in contact with Parker also. She still couldn't explain fully why she'd chosen not to stay in contact with anyone from DC, but the best explanation she could come up with was that she'd needed the isolation to be able to completely deal with her feelings for Booth.

She shook off her thoughts knowing that soon Parker would be with her and she wanted to enjoy this time, even if she would eventually end up falling asleep on the couch while they watched TV together. She decided to take him out for some afternoon tea, prolonging their time together before they eventually headed home.

"Bones!" Parker called out as he ran up to her car, where she was waiting for him. He threw his arms around her and while she was caught off guard by the guesture her arms came around him automatically and she held him to her a little longer than she normally would.

"Parker, it's so good to see you" Brennan said, pulling away from him a little to take in his face which was beaming with happiness. She felt her own answering smile grace her face and they just stood there for a moment, his arms still wrapped around her middle for a few minutes.

"It's good to see you too Bones, I was so excited when Dad called and said you were picking me up" Parker said as he stepped away from her and she was happy to see there was no awkwardness between them. Parker was getting to the age where physical affection from his parents was a little embarrassing but he didn't show any signs of feeling that way towards her.

"Would you like to go to the diner for some afternoon tea?" Brennan asked as she guestured for him to get into the car, and then got in herself.

"That would be great, can we have milkshakes?" Parker asked excitedly as he did up his seat belt.

"Yes of course" Brennan told him as she started up the car and began the drive to the diner. She looked quickly over and smiled at how easily pleased he was. Parker was a credit to Booth and Rebecca, he was a remarkable child and she loved spending time with him, especially the endless questions he asked her, she was honoured to be able to impart some of her knowledge to him. She loved encouraging his curious nature, and knew that much to his father's dismay, he was going to make a very good scientist one day.

They arrived at the diner and Brennan was pleased to find that her normal table that she and Booth normally occupied was free. She ushered Parker to the table and then watched as he opened a menu to look at, all the while knowing he already knew what he wanted to order. Like his father, Parker always ordered the same thing when they came here on the afternoons when he'd come to the lab.

"So how was school Parker?" Brennan asked as she tried to work out what she wanted. She was feeling good for once, but was unsure of what appealed to her on the menu. She wasn't extremely hungry, but knew she should eat something, so she continued to read the menu as Parker gushed about his day at school.

"The usual Dr Brennan and Parker?" One of the waitresses asked smiling at them both. Normally it was a milkshake and a plate of fries for Parker and a fruit salad for Dr Brennan. She looked at the good doctor who was still absorbed in the menu and frowned. It was highly unusual for Dr Brennan to order something other than her usual fruit salad, so she decided to wait and see what she would order.

"Parker would you like your usual order?" Brennan asked as she finally came to a decision about what she wanted to have for afternoon tea.

"Yes please Bones" Parker said, looking at Bones curiously realising that she wasn't going to order her usual afternoon tea when they came to the diner.

"I'll have the same as Parker" Brennan told the waitress, not looking up to see the shock on the woman's face. She knew being a creature of habit that her choice of order would be unusual, but she just hoped that it wouldn't cause Parker to ask too many questions. She was not a very good liar, and didn't think blurting out that she was craving a milkshake and fries was a good thing to admit right now.

"I'll...err be back with your orders" The waitress stammered as she went to the kitchen to place their orders.

"Bones, why didn't you order a fruit salad? You always order a fruit salad" Parker asked curiously. He knew that one of the things that he, his dad and Bones shared was that they liked the same things every time they went to a certain place. At the diner, there was always milkshakes for him, fruit salads for Bones and burgers and fries for his Dad.

"I just felt like something different, you seem to like it so I thought I'd try it" Brennan answered hoping that answer would appease him.

"Parker will you stay here for a moment, I have to go to the rest room" Brennan said as she hurried off to the bathroom. When she returned she could see he was happily engaged with his food and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she'd be able to distract him with other conversations now, instead of him focusing on what she was eating.

As soon as she took a sip of her milkshake, she had to stop herself from sighing at how good it was. It was exactly what she felt like at that moment, and the fries went down well too. She knew she might regret it later, but decided that when she felt the cravings she should go with them. At 9 weeks pregnant, she knew it was only going to get worse from here, but was hopeful that once she was past her first trimester, her energy levels would return and her appetite.

"Is it good Bones?" Parker asked as he watched her eat the fries. He still couldn't believe she'd ordered the same meal as him. Bones was one of the healthiest people he'd ever known, and she'd managed to get him to like foods his Mum had not had any luck in trying, just for the sheer curiosity of trying her food.

"Yes Parker it is, and although I wouldn't have it every time I came here, it's a nice change" Brennan told him, seeing he was still curious about the change in her eating habits.

"Dad says he's never known anyone to eat as much rabbit food as you do, I don't think that he likes that you've gotten me into it too" Parker said laughing as he thought of the last time he'd been at his dad's place and hearing the groan as he'd begged his Dad for salad with their spaghetti bolognaise. He'd told his Dad that according to Bones he should be eating vegetables with every meal.

"Yes well you're Dad could stand to eat a little more 'rabbit food' himself" Brennan said and then they both cracked up, before Brennan groaned quietly realising that another trip to the bathroom was going to be necessary soon.

"Parker, I have to go to the rest room again, will you be alright here by yourself?" Brennan asked, and when he nodded and grabbed some more fries, she hurried off to the bathroom again. When she returned she noticed he was almost finished his fries and decided it would probably be best if they left soon. She knew sooner or later he was going to notice her more frequent trips to the bathroom and that was something she was going to have a hard time finding an excuse for.

"Are you ready to go? I thought we'd head home and we could watch the discovery channel, or some of those cartoons you like until your Dad gets home?" Brennan asked, thinking of Booth and wondering how his conversation with Rebecca was going.

"But Bones you haven't finished your fries or your milkshake" Parker said, looking at her half eaten plate of fries.

"I'm not that hungry any more, let's get going" Brennan said, as she grabbed her bag and headed to the cash register to pay for their food.

"Hi Dr Brennan, it's good to see you and Parker here together, it's been a long time since we've seen just the two of you here" the waitress at the cash register commented, she had been working here throughout the whole time that Seeley Booth and Dr Brennan had been coming to the diner. She'd been happy to see them finally admit their feelings for each other, and had a sneaking suspicion that more was happening between the two of them then people knew. She'd been watching them, the last couple of times they'd been in, and she'd noticed the difference in Dr Brennan's order today, and had a feeling that the good doctor had a bun in the oven. From what little she'd heard of the conversation between the boy and the doctor she'd realised that the boy didn't have a clue, and she was not going to be the one who enlightened him.

"Yes, it has been a while, I've missed coming here with Parker" Brennan said, uncharacteristically admitting something personal to a person who was for all intents a stranger.

"Let's go Bones, there's a show on the discovery channel that will be on in about half an hour that I'd like to show you" Parker said, getting impatient. He knew she was going to love the show. Even though he knew she didn't like watching much TV, she was always happy to watch the discovery channel with him.

Booth pulled up at Rebecca's place after discerning that she was at home. He was a little bit nervous about the conversation that was about to take place, but he had a feeling that Rebecca would be happy for him and Bones. He'd gotten the sense that Rebecca had never really liked Hannah, coupled with the fact that Hannah had only been around the once when Rebecca had dropped Parker to his place. He looked up at the house that his son's mother lived in and saw that Rebecca was sitting on her front porch waiting for him.

"Seeley, if you're here to tell me that you and Temperance are seeing each other you can save yourself the trouble, I've already worked it out from the way your son has started gushing about her again" Rebecca told him smiling at the flustered look on his face. She was happy for him, for both of them it was good that they'd finally gotten their act together.

"Well Bec, that's not all of what I have to tell you, um can we go inside please?" Booth asked not really wanting to get into this conversation on her front doorstep.

"Okay, sure Seeley, is everything okay?" Rebecca asked worriedly, taking in the nervousness of the man standing before her, and then gently ushering him inside wondering what turn of events could make Seeley Booth nervous.

"Uh, yeah everything is wonderful in fact, Bones and I, we are in love with each other, it's all out in the open finally and things are going great" Booth said, stalling as he tried to figure out how to say the next part. He shifted from foot to foot nervously as he thought of all the different reactions Bec could have to this news.

"Oh god, she's pregnant isn't she?" Rebecca asked as she watched him. She could only think of one thing that would make him that nervous, either that or he was going to tell her that he and Temperance were engaged, but she didn't think that Temperance was the marrying kind.

"Uh yes she is, how did you figure it out?" Booth asked, a little relieved that he didn't have to say the words out loud. He looked over at Rebecca to see how she was taking it and was surprised at the big smile on her face.

"Seeley, you never get nervous like this, I knew it had to be something big, and after Hannah rejecting your proposal, I didn't think you and Temperance would be engaged, you didn't do something silly like propose to her when you found out? Please tell me you didn't" Rebecca asked, worriedly. From what she knew of Temperance she was against marriage, and knew that if Seeley had asked her, it wouldn't have gone over well.

"No, I wouldn't do that to Bones, I know she doesn't believe in marriage and you know for the first time I don't care, I love her and she loves me, that's all that matters" Booth said, finally coming to realise that Bones' admission of love to him was as much of a commitment to him as marriage was.

"I'm glad Seeley, I've always thought she was the right woman for you, you were just too blind to see it" Rebecca said, lightly punching him on the arm to show him she was really happy for him.

"Yeah, well we were both a little in the dark about our feelings, and then when I realised how I felt, I rushed her, but we are here now and I'm not going to stuff it up this time" Booth said with conviction. He smiled at the woman he'd almost married once, the mother of his child and was thankful for the relationship they had with each other now. It was still a difficult one and he knew there was always going to be times when they clashed on what was right for their son, but their relationship had strengthened from the one he'd had with her, when he'd first met Bones. He liked to think in some part that Bones had been a part of the reason it had strengthened.

"So, a baby" Rebecca said, watching as a big smile broke out on Seeley's face. She was surprised to find she was totally happy for them, and she was not jealous in any way. She'd come to terms with the fact that she wasn't going to have any more children and had hoped that Seeley would settle down one day and provide a brother or sister for Parker one day.

"Yeah, it was a surprise, neither of us were expecting it to happen, I mean we've only been seeing each other for about 9 weeks or so" Booth told her, deciding to be as open about everything as possible. He was kind of hoping that now that he was having another child, that Rebecca would be more open to him spending more time with Parker. He really wanted Parker and this new child to bond really well, and knew that Bones really wanted Parker to be as involved with the pregnancy as possible. His thoughts turned to the woman he loved and his son and he wondered what they were up to at this moment.

"How far along is she?" Rebecca asked, wondering if they'd be telling Parker about this development on the weekend.

"Um, 9 weeks" Booth told Rebecca sheepishly, he knew it didn't sound good when said that way, but neither he or Bones had expected that they would conceive a child the first time they slept together.

"Wow, that must have been a shock for you both, how is Temperance coping?" Rebecca asked, wondering how the scientist felt about this development, she'd always known Temperance would make a great mother one day, she'd observed her with Parker, and seen the way she doted over him. She had a patience with Parker that neither she or Seeley possessed and had watched amusedly many times as Parker talked and pestered her with question after question, often wondering if she should go in and stop Parker only to see the smile on Temperance's face as she answered a question Parker asked, which stopped her every time.

"She's actually been quite sick, morning sickness has been knocking her around quite a lot, but she's really looking forward to being a mum, I think she's a little worried about her parenting abilities though" Booth confided, knowing that if Bones were here she might not be happy that he was talking to Rebecca about something she'd confessed to him, but he wanted to see if Rebecca had any ideas on how he could assure Bones that she was going to be a terrific mum.

"Poor thing, I remember morning sickness, it was not fun" Rebecca said, as she thought of how to respond to the second part of what Booth had just told her.

"You know the first time I met Temperance, I almost jumped in a hundred times while Parker was talking her ear off, and every time I went to, I saw the smile on her face, and how animated she was when she was talking to him and it always stopped me, Temperance has helped shape our son, she's embraced his curiosity for life in a way neither of us could, and without her I don't believe Parker would be doing as well as he is in school, Parker is a testament to how good a mother she is going to be, Seeley every time she doubts that, talk to her about how good she is with Parker, it will help" Rebecca advised him, smiling at the father of her son, who was about to become a father for the second time.

"Are you sure Temperance is up to having Parker this weekend? I know how exhausting he can be sometimes and I know how exhausting early pregnancy can be, in fact you should get home to her now, poor thing dealing with our son by herself" Rebecca said as she realised that Temperance would be dealing with Parker who was often revved up after school.

"She's fine Rebecca, I know for a fact she's probably taken him to the diner, and they are probably watching the discovery channel right now" Booth laughed, thinking of his beautiful Bones and his son watching their favourite TV channel together. He was always surprised at how animated Bones became when she was watching that channel with Parker, they both talked endlessly throughout the shows, Bones often correcting the science for Parker when a particular show got it wrong.

"Still, you know how Parker can be sometimes after school, you should get home to her, she's carrying your child, she deserves a little bit of pampering from you" Rebecca told him as she ushered him out of the door.

"Okay, no need to push me out the door, thank you Bec, for being understanding, Bones and I are going to tell Parker this weekend about the baby, if that's okay? With Bones' morning sickness, she's been pretty tired and I don't want Parker to think she's sick, so we figured it was best to tell him, to save him worrying about her" Booth told Rebecca, waiting for her reaction.

"Sounds like a good plan, now get home to our son and your girlfriend" Rebecca said as she pushed him out the door laughing at his stunned face.

"Bones look at that one it's so cool!" Parker exclaimed looking over at Bones and saw that she'd fallen asleep on the chair next to him. He wasn't sure if he should let her sleep or not, but decided that if she was tired enough to fall asleep that he should probably leave her to sleep. He picked up the remote and turned the TV down a little and then found a blanket to drape over her and gently tucked her in. Satisfied that she was warm and comfortable he settled back down next to her and began watching the show again.

After an hour or so he felt his eyes begin to droop from sitting so close to Bones who was very warm. Deciding to risk it, he slowly curled his body up against hers, laying his head against her chest and gave into the urge to fall asleep, smiling as he felt her arm wrap around his body automatically in sleep.

Booth walked up the stairs to his apartment and quietly opened the door not wanting to disturb Bones if she had fallen asleep. He was hopeful that is she had, that Parker would be caring enough to be quiet and not run to door as soon as he heard him walk in. He was a little surprised when the apartment was mostly silent except for the quiet noise of the TV. As he moved further into the room, what he saw next almost melted his heart. The sight of his son and his partner curled up on the lounge together, both fast asleep was one he knew would stay in his memory for a long time.

He decided he would let them sleep as long as they wanted to and figured preparing dinner would probably be a good idea. If they were both hungry, the smell of dinner would wake them up soon enough and he knew Bones really needed as much rest as she could get.

He decided something simple would probably be the best thing for him to prepare, considering that Bones' appetite had been a little off, and she wasn't coping too well with spices at the moment. Deciding it would be better to cook a vegetarian meal, rather than any kind of meat just in case her sense of smell would cause her to be sick, he started cooking a stir fry, both he and Parker had actually become fond of tofu after Bones had added it quite a few times to some of their favourite dishes for a bit of a change and he'd gotten quite adept at cooking with it since they'd been spending most of their time together after the change in their relationship.

Bones was the first one to stir at the smell of food, as her bladder protested her being asleep for so long. She opened her eyes groggily and then realised she was weighted down by something and looked down to see Parker asleep against her chest. Tears began welling up in her eyes as she watched him for a few minutes and she blinked them back quickly, knowing she was going to have to wake him up in order to be able to go and relieve her bladder. She gently shook him to wake him and smiled as he looked up at her his face flushed with sleep. She nodded gently at him, hoping to convey that she wasn't concerned that he'd fallen asleep on her and gently squeezed his shoulders and kissed his forehead as she encouraged him to let her up. She quickly disappeared into the toilet as he made his way into the kitchen to see his Dad.

"Parker, how are you doing buddy?" Booth exclaimed as he watched his son walk into the kitchen his face still flushed from sleep.

"Good Dad, sorry I fell asleep with Bones, I didn't mean to not be awake when you got home" Parker said, sniffing the air, smiling at the pleasing aroma that was coming from the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?" Parker asked, as his tummy began to grumble.

"Stir fry, with tofu" Booth said, keeping his answer direct and simple so he wouldn't be tempted to try and explain the dinner choice.

"Smells good" Brennan said as she walked into the kitchen and kissed Booth, which caused a giggle to come from Parker.

"Sorry Bones, it's going to take a little bit for me to get used to you kissing my Dad" Parker said, giggling again when she kissed Booth again cheekily.

"Well Parker, you are going to have to get used to it, because I love your Dad, and kissing him is one way I show him that I do" Brennan explained to Parker, wanting him to be comfortable with them displaying physical affection in front of him.

"Shall we set the table, it looks like dinner will be ready soon" Brennan suggested and lead Parker out of the room to go and set the table together. She found herself wondering how Parker was going to take the news that she was pregnant, part of her was worried, because Parker had been an only child for a long time. The other part of her felt he would be happy, almost ecstatic at the news, she knew he had a great capacity for love, and no matter his initial reaction, he would come to love his sibling, just as he'd come to love her.

They ate dinner quietly, no one really feeling like talking that much. Brennan and Parker still a little groggy from their unexpected nap together and Booth thinking about the news they would be sharing with Parker soon. He decided he would ask Bones about when she wanted to tell Parker, while he was getting ready for bed, that way if they decided to tell him tonight, they still had time.

Parker insisted on watching a new movie he'd been wanting to watch with them for quite some time, it was a movie he knew Bones would like, but as he'd not spent much time with Bones recently, they'd been unable to watch it. It was called Despicable Me and he knew she'd be intrigued by the fact that the main character was supposed to be evil, but ended up taking in three girls and becoming a father to them. He was a little shocked when she teared up in one scene, and smiled as he watched his Dad wipe her tears away and gently kiss her. It was unlike Bones to cry in a movie, in fact he couldn't remember a time when she had and he decided he'd ask his Dad about it later.

Once the movie was over he noticed that Bones had fallen asleep again during the movie, and decided he really needed to talk to his Dad and make sure that he talked to her about getting more sleep, she was probably working too much again, something his Dad complained about a lot. He always complained that Bones didn't eat enough, didn't sleep enough and didn't watch enough TV.

"Do you want to get ready for bed kiddo?" Booth asked quietly, not wanting to wake Bones just yet. She'd only fallen asleep in the last twenty minutes of the movie, and while she would be unhappy she missed the end, he knew she'd enjoyed most of it. He'd been a little worried Parker would say something when Bones began to cry during one of the sadder moments of the movie, but thankfully he hadn't.

"Dad, is Bones okay? That's the second time she's fallen asleep today, I've never seen her fall asleep during the day, maybe you should talk to Cam about making sure she goes home earlier from the lab" Parker asked, hoping that was all the problem was. He was going to ask more, when Bones woke up suddenly and rushed off to the bathroom.

"Bones?" Booth called as he walked towards the bathroom hoping that Bones was not throwing up. He listened carefully and couldn't hear any signs that she was, and breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled as the door opened and she walked out almost walking into him.

"Booth, sorry I didn't mean to startle you" Brennan said as she yawned, not quite awake, despite having successfully navigated her way to the bathroom.

"Are you okay?" Booth asked, looking her over and took in the rosy cheeks, and glassy eyes and realised she would need to go to bed soon.

"Yes, although this frequent need to urinate is getting quite annoying" Brennan complained good naturedly.

"Worth it in the end though" Booth said, as he sighed in relief knowing it was only that. He was glad she seemed to be feeling a lot better and that the medication was working.

"Speaking of that, do you think we should tell Parker tonight?" Booth asked watching her face for her reaction.

"Tell me what?" Parker asked looking at his Dad and Bones and seeing the looks on their faces knew he'd walked into a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear.

_Okay leaving it there, because seriously I could write Parker, Booth and Brennan interactions all day. Next up Booth and Brennan reveal the pregnancy to Parker, what do you think his reaction will be. Will he be happy, or will he be worried his Dad may not love him as much if he has another kid, that he'll be with all the time. Stay tuned to find out :)_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**Not the only one**

**AN: Again apologies for the delay in getting this one up. Life has got in the way for a little while.. but I am doing my best not to let more than two weeks go by without an update as I know how much I hang on other Author's updates :) So... here we go with the big reveal to Parker.. Enjoy :)**

_"Tell me what?" Parker asked looking at his Dad and Bones and seeing the looks on their faces knew he'd walked into a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear._

"Parker have a seat buddy" Booth said guiding the boy back to the lounge and motioning for Bones to follow him. Once they were all seated he grabbed Bones hand to steady her. He knew that she would be over thinking this and he just wanted to keep her calm throughout the conversation. He knew his son and even if he was a little upset at first he would get excited about this baby eventually.

"Bones and I have some news for you" Booth started, squeezing Bones' hand hoping to prevent her from jumping in and blurting it out. He wanted to break the news as gently to his son as possible.

"Is everything okay with Bones? She's not sick is she?" Parker asked, fear displaying on his face as he looked at the seriousness showing on his father and Bones' faces.

"No she's not sick Parker, Bones is pregnant, in about seven months you are going to have a new baby brother or sister" Booth said and then waited for Parker's reaction. He watched the emotions play out on Parker's face and for a moment he was worried that Parker would be upset and then smiled as Parker jumped up from his seat and went to hug Bones.

"Oh Bones, I'm so glad you aren't sick" Parker said as he squeezed her hard. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about their news but was just relieved that Bones wasn't sick.

"I am too Parker, although pregnancy hasn't been very kind to me, that's why I've been more tired than normal and up until the last few days I've been pretty sick, but the doctor prescribed me some medicine that is helping" Brennan explained to Parker, still waiting for his reaction to the pregnancy and that he was going to be a big brother. She felt it was best to be as honest as possible with Parker and hoped that he wasn't upset about this, she worried that he might feel some jealousy towards this child and that he might be angry with her for bringing another child into the world that he would need to compete with for his father's affections.

"I'm going to be a big brother" Parker said, still a little dazed by their news and still trying to figure out how he felt.

"Yes you are, and Parker I want you to know this isn't going to affect how we feel about you, you're always going to be my first-born child, and you are always going to be very important to me" Booth told Parker hoping to keep him talking about this, knowing Parker's habit of shutting down when he was upset. He was very like his partner, so much so that people often mistook him for her son.

"I'm sorry Dad if I'm not reacting to this how you want me to, I am happy for you and Bones, and being a big brother is going to be great I'm sure, but this just makes me wish I lived with you guys all the time, I'm going to miss out on so much being only able to come over every other weekend" Parker told them, finally figuring out why he wasn't jumping for joy. Becoming a big brother was something he'd always wanted, but he'd never really thought about the fact that he'd only get to see his brother or sister every other weekend, and that he might miss important stuff with the baby.

"Parker, your Dad and I are going to have a talk with your Mum, we want you to be as involved in this pregnancy as possible, and I am hoping your Mum might agree to you coming over every weekend, especially after the baby is born, so you get to spend more time with us and the baby" Brennan told him and then looked over at Booth as an idea came to her.

"Parker do you have your own computer at home?" Brennan asked, the idea taking shape, she only hoped that Rebecca would agree to it.

"Um no, Mum says I'm too young for my own computer, why?" Parker asked as he took in what he liked to call Bones' idea face. He knew she'd come up with something that would make this easier for them.

"I'm going to talk to your Mum and see if she'll allow me to buy you one, and then I'm going to get Angela to install some special software on it which will allow you to talk to us via video on your computer, so that when you want to see us, you can video call us" Brennan explained. She wasn't sure if Parker knew what Skype was, but felt that maybe if he could talk to them and see her and Booth every night, it would help him feel more connected to the new baby.

"That would be cool, especially when you get bigger, I've heard that when the baby starts moving sometimes you can see the movements from the outside, that would be cool!" Parker exclaimed as he gave Bones another hug. He finally felt like he could feel excited about the baby now that he knew that he was going to be able to see them more.

"I also thought if your Mum agrees, that you could come with me to all of my ultrasounds, and appointments with my obstetrician, so you can see how the baby is developing and we can read books on pregnancy so you can learn about all the different things that are happening with the baby through each week" Brennan told Parker as he laid his head against her chest and listened to her list all the things they could do together to prepare for the baby.

"That would be great, do you think we could go buy some books tomorrow? I want to know what the baby would look like now" Parker asked, as he tentatively placed a hand on Bones' abdomen wanting to see if it felt any different now that there was a baby in there. He wasn't sure, but her stomach did feel a bit firmer than normal.

"Of course, and we'll make sure you can be there for the baby shopping we need to do, and you can help me take care of Bones when she isn't feeling well, or when she gets tired when she's further along" Booth said totally in awe of both his son and his beautiful partner. He only hoped that Rebecca would go along with Bones' ideas. After their talk today he didn't think she'd say no, but he never really knew how Rebecca was going to respond to his requests.

"So long as you both don't start treating me like I'm going to break, I'm pregnant not sick" Brennan told them both, serious about this request. She knew she was going to have to make some accommodations for the pregnancy, but she was not going to bow to any ridiculous demands Booth may make. So far his over protective nature hadn't reared it's ugly head, but she knew that as she got further along, that it would, and she hoped they wouldn't have too much trouble dealing with it.

"Alright, I think it's bed time for young men" Booth said as he looked over at his son who's eyes were beginning to droop.

"Okay Dad I really am happy about becoming a big brother" Parker told them wanting to assure them that he was happy and not upset. He gave them both a hug and then went to get ready for bed.

"Are you okay Bones?" Booth asked, looking at his thoughtful partner. He was so proud of her, the responses she'd made to Parker had been right on the money and he knew she would make good on the things she'd suggested.

"Yes, that went better than I expected, Parker is an amazing child Booth, I'm so glad he wasn't upset" Brennan told Booth as a wave of tiredness hit her and she yawned.

"Guess it's not only time for young men to go to bed, but time for pregnant ladies too" Booth said laughing at the indignant look on Bones' face before it turned into a smile.

"I am very tired, let's go to bed Booth" Brennan said as she grabbed his hand so they could go say goodnight to Parker and then head to bed themselves.

Bones was asleep within two minutes of her head hitting the pillow but Booth wasn't as tired as she was. He watched her sleep dreamily and rested his hand on the place where their child was growing. He was happy that Parker was okay with the baby, and that he was looking forward to being a big brother. It felt good for things to be going so right between them.

The next day Brennan was up early having gotten a very good sleep, and having woken up to only a slight queasiness. She made herself some breakfast and opened up her laptop so she could begin researching titles on pregnancy books that would be easy for Parker to understand. She wanted one that would have a week by week progression of the baby's development and one that didn't get too technical. Within half an hour she'd found the perfect book and the book store she could buy it from. She thought about calling Rebecca about her other ideas, but she figured that Booth would want to be there when she asked and it would probably be easier to bring it up when they dropped Parker off tomorrow.

Parker strolled downstairs another twenty minutes later and smiled at Bones who was now writing a chapter for her book. He grabbed himself a bowl of his favourite cereal and sat down next to Bones on the couch while he ate. He looked at her curiously trying to see if she looked any different now that she was pregnant and if there had been anything he should have noticed that would have given an indication that she was. She did look a little paler than she normally did and she actually looked like she'd lost some weight and he was sure that wasn't a good thing.

"Bones, shouldn't you put on weight when you have a baby?" Parker asked not worried that he'd upset her, she was used to his out of the blue kind of questions.

"Well Parker, you should, although you don't gain very much in the first couple of months because the baby is very small, but I have probably lost some weight due to how sick I was in the last couple of weeks, but don't worry I am sure I will begin putting on weight normally now that I'm taking medicine to not feel so sick" Brennan explained, hoping she kept it simple enough for him.

"Do you know when you are going to begin to look pregnant?" Parker asked his curiosity beginning to increase the more they talked about the pregnancy. He was fascinated by how Bones was going to change in the next few months and what she would feel during this pregnancy.

"Most women begin to show or look pregnant around 14 to 16 weeks, I'm 9 weeks now so in another 5 to 7 weeks I will begin to look pregnant" Brennan answered happy to indulge his curiosity.

"And when will you feel the baby move, I'm really looking forward to that" Parker asked, wondering what it would feel like, he'd never felt a baby move inside their mum before.

"I will probably begin to feel the baby move around about 20 weeks, but you may not be able to feel the baby move until between 28-32 weeks as the baby has to be a lot bigger before it can be felt from the outside of my abdomen" Brennan answered keeping her face open and relaxed so Parker knew it was okay to ask as many questions as he wanted.

"How long will you be pregnant? Do you know when the baby should be born?" Parker asked his curiosity not diminishing at all.

"A normal pregnancy lasts between 38-42 weeks, so the baby should be born in about another 29 weeks at the least, I know how far along in the pregnancy I am because I had an ultrasound when I was really sick last week, just to make sure everything was okay with the baby, the doctor wants to do another one when I am 12 weeks, which is in 3 weeks, and I hope your mum will let you come" Brennan told him watching his face to gauge his comprehension.

"I'd love that Bones, I really would love to see what the baby looks like, will it look like a baby?" Parker asked loving that Bones was willing to answer all of his questions, she'd put her laptop down after the first couple of questions and her attention was completely focused on him.

"How about we stop the questions for a little bit and you and Bones can figure this stuff out once you've bought the books you want?" Booth asked as he walked into the lounge room. He'd been quietly listening to his son question Bones about the pregnancy for the last 15 minutes and figured it was about time he gave her a break. He was always amazed with her patience with him and how much she tried to make sure her answers were not too complicated for him. He wished other people got to see her with Parker more because it would be more proof of just how big her heart really is, and maybe she'd have less people thinking she was a cold hearted person.

"Okay Dad, so can we go to the mall soon?" Parker asked bouncing a little on his seat as he waited for their answer.

"It would probably be a good idea to go now, I'm generally more energetic in the mornings at the moment" Brennan suggested to Booth.

"Okay let me have breakfast and then we will head over to the mall, maybe we can call Angela and see if she wants to meet us for lunch?" Booth suggested knowing that Angela probably could do with getting out of the house now that she had a newborn.

"That's a good idea Booth I'll call her now" Brennan said as she pulled out her phone and made the call.

"Sweetie, how are you feeling?" Angela asked as she picked up not needing to ask how it was.

"I'm feeling much better the medication seems to be working" Brennan answered smiling as she heard a gurgle from Michael Vincent over the phone.

"That's good to hear sweetie, how's your visit with Parker going, did he react well to the news about the baby?" Angela asked as she switched Michael to the other breast to continue his feeding.

"It's going well and he was fine about it, in fact we were just saying we'd like to invite you and Michael Vincent out for lunch, Jack as well if he isn't busy?" Brennan asked as she looked over at Booth who was watching her with what she jokingly called his 'love eyes'. She smiled back at him and moved closer to him smiling as he wrapped an arm around her. She wanted to kiss him badly, but knew she needed to get this phone call over with before that could happen. She felt Booth press a light kiss to her neck and had to stop herself from gasping at the sensation.

"That would be great sweetie, where do you want to meet?" Angela asked smiling as she imagined what was happening while she was talking with her best friend. She'd heard Brennan's sharp intake of air and had a feeling that Booth was being his attentive self. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard a yuck from Parker and a girlish giggle from Brennan.

"We'll be at the mall, so maybe the food court there?" Brennan suggested squirming a little as Booth continued kissing her neck and fighting to not let out any noise as he intensified his assault on her neck.

"Okay that sounds good, I'll leave you guys to it, I've got to burp this little guy and get him ready to go out" Angela said smiling as she could sense her best friends struggle to keep her from figuring out just what Booth was doing to her. They hung up and she smiled to herself happy that her best friend was finally with the man she loved.

They walked into the book store that Brennan had found and she immediately went up to the sale person to ask if they had the title she'd found in stock. Happy to find that they did she grabbed Parker's hand and they went in search of the book. As the took a quick look through it, she knew she'd made the right choice when Parker's eyes lit up.

"This book is perfect Bones, thank you" Parker said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Your son and your wife are just gorgeous together, they look like they have a very special bond" the salesperson commented to Booth as he watched them together.

"Yes they are and they do" Booth answered not wanting to correct the young woman. He smiled at her as Bones and Parker walked up to him talking animatedly about their purchase. Thinking of the young woman's comment he knew there was a big chance he and Bones would never get married, but he also knew that if they did, she would need to be the one who asked. He didn't want to put any pressure on her in any way about marriage and knew that if she asked, he would know for sure that it was what she wanted because she was always honest.

They purchased the book and then wandered the mall for a little while before deciding to stop for some morning tea. Brennan pulled him aside for a moment before they walked into the little cafe they'd chosen to eat at.

"Um Booth would it be okay if you didn't order coffee? The smell of it hasn't been very good for my morning sickness and I don't want to get sick around Parker if I can help it" Brennan told him, she hoped her aversion to the smell would diminish once the morning sickness passed, and hoped Booth would understand her reasoning.

"Of course Bones, I'll have a milkshake, why don't I go in and order us some drinks and something to eat and we will eat out here away from the smell of the coffee?" Booth suggested and noted that she was looking a little pale, so it might be a good time for a break for them anyway.

"Thank you Booth, that would be wonderful" Brennan told him reaching up and kissing him softly to show her appreciation.

"You know Bones, it won't hurt Parker to see you sick, once you both read through that book together he's going to understand why straight away, I don't want you to get sick, but if you do don't worry about Parker" Booth told her as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it and then went off with Parker to get them some food.

Brennan found them somewhere to sit and was glad she had as she was feeling a little shaky and a little nauseous. She decided that it might be a good idea for them to go to the diner for lunch with Angela as she didn't think she was up to a shopping trip with her best friend right now. Her energy levels were higher but she was still finding that she got tired more easily than she was used to and despite not having had a serious case of morning sickness for a couple of days, the nausea was still present which made her feel like sitting down and resting all of the time. She got out her phone to call Angela and change their plans.

They walked into the diner about an hour and a half later and found that Angela was already there waiting with them with little Michael Vincent in his little infant carrier next to her. Brennan went up and hugged her best friend truly glad to see her and then bent over to look at her little boy and felt her heart swell as she thought of her own child at this age.

"Sweetie, you can pick him up if you like, he's just been fed so he should be nice and happy for you" Angela told Brennan as she watched her inspect the baby. She smiled as Brennan gently scooped up the baby and settled him in the crook of her arm. Angela could tell already that Brennan was going to be a natural at this and she planned on giving her lots of chances to test her parenting skills once little Michael Vincent was a bit older.

"Oh Ange he is just beautiful" Brennan gushed, as her hormones surged a little and she gently stroked the baby's soft downy head. Booth gently ushered Brennan into a seat and motioned for Parker to sit too as he smiled at his partner completely absorbed in the baby.

"Yeah well believe me he's not beautiful when he wakes me up crying for food at 2am in the morning" Angela said jokingly as she watched her best friend so taken by her child.

"Shall we order some food then?" Booth asked not wanting to break the spell that had come over Brennan the moment she saw the baby, but knowing that she probably needed to eat something. She'd barely touched her morning tea and he was hoping that today was not going to be the day that the medication didn't work.

"Yes good idea, should I put him back down?" Brennan asked not wanting to relinquish the baby but happy to acquiesce to Angela's wishes as the baby's mother.

"No he looks like he's pretty happy where he is right now" Angela said as she looked at her son snuggled into her best friends arms slowly drifting off to sleep. If ever there was proof at how big her best friend's heart was, it was in watching her so absorbed with a newborn that wasn't even her child that she barely noticed what was going on around her. Angela could tell that Brennan was cataloguing everything she could see of the baby, and wasn't surprised when a solitary tear trickled down her face.

"Is he feeding well?" Booth asked as he waited for a waitress to come over to take their order. He couldn't stop smiling he'd never seen Brennan like this with a child before and he knew part of it was to do with the fact that she was pregnant herself, but he also knew that Brennan had been very excited about the birth of her best friend's child and had looked forward to becoming an Aunty.

"Yes very well, he just started smiling a couple of days ago, it's the cutest thing I've ever seen" Angela gushed as she looked over at her sleeping son.

"He looks to be developing within all the normal parameters" Brennan observed as she catalogued his features again. She couldn't get over how tiny his hands were and how soft his skin was.

"Thank you Bren, he's doing well, Hodgins and I are surviving on 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night but we are getting there" Angela said as she noticed the waitress come over to them.

"What can I get you folk today?" the waitress asked as she took out her notepad and pen.

"I'll have my usual, and Parker will have his usual, but no coffee today, just a milkshake for me" Booth said and then nudged Brennan to get her to give her order.

"I'd just like some soup, the vegetable one you normally have should do" Brennan said thinking soup would be the least likely meal to make her feel sick.

"Could you get them to add a bit of ginger to the soup?" Booth asked guessing that Brennan's lack of appetite was due to feeling nauseated. He wished the medication could take the nausea away completely but understood that medication that strong would probably not be good for the baby.

"Of course, and you miss?" the waitress asked Angela as she snuck a look at the baby in the doctor's arms.

"I'll have a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and a milkshake too" Angela said, quickly picking up on the reason for Booth not having coffee.

"I'll be back in a little bit with your order, your baby is just beautiful hun" the waitress said directing her words at Angela, having known these people long enough she knew the baby wasn't the doctor's or the special agent's. Her suspicions from the other day were confirmed by the addition of ginger to the soup and the abstaining of coffee from all adults at the table. Dr Brennan had a bun in the oven, she couldn't wait to tell the other girls, they were going to be thrilled that the doctor and the special agent had finally gotten their acts together.

_Okay leaving this one there... and will finish up lunch with Angela in the next chapter. And then more Parker time before he goes home to his mum. We'll see him exploring his new book with Brennan and them bonding more over it. Should be pretty cute. _


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**The beginnings of a family.**

**A/N – Sorry again for the delay in this chapter. I am trying to get them out quickly but can only write when my muse is working for me. It's been working in spits and spades. I thank you for continuing to read this story. **

As they waited for their food to come Parker entertained them all with a story about one of the experiments he'd done at school in his science class. Brennan was very impressed with his aptitude for science and was glad for the opportunity to be able to encourage his love of science. She knew that Booth secretly loved that his son was interested in the sciences even if he would have liked for him to follow in his footsteps. In a lot of ways Parker was an amalgamation of the two of them, he had her intellect and Booth's person-ability.

Once their food arrived they all tucked in with gusto, even Brennan who had regained her appetite a little during the easy conversation. She was looking forward to being at home with Parker and going through the book they'd bought him. She wanted to encourage all of his questions about the pregnancy, even if Booth might get a little squeamish about some of his questions.

"You're a little quiet, are you ok?" Booth asked quietly not wanting to alert either Parker or Angela to their conversation.

"Yes, I find I am really looking forward to being at home with you and Parker" Brennan admitted sheepishly. She loved the feeling of being a part of a family and being with Parker only enhanced that. As irrational as it seemed, she felt like he was her son, as much as she knew that was not possible. She looked over at him and he smiled at her and her heart swelled even though she knew that too was not possible.

"I think someone is a little in love with your son" Angela whispered to Booth seeing the clear admiration on Brennan's face when she looked at Parker. It was unbelievably cute and she knew that if anyone who didn't really know the anthropologist watched how her face lit up when the boy was in the room, they'd be shocked considering her reputation.

"I think you are right, I've never seen her like this before" Booth whispered back. He'd seen how much his partner loved his son before, but in the last few weeks it was like she suddenly felt permission to love him less guardedly, in a way he'd never seen her before. He'd not realised how his relationship with Bones would change how she viewed her relationship with his son. He doubted she was even aware of it.

"She's happy, I don't think I've ever seen her this happy before" Angela whispered back, smiling at Booth as his attention turned back to the beautiful woman next to him. She was listening animatedly to Parker as he described yet another experiment he'd done at school. The pride and love he saw on her face just made him love her even more in that moment.

The baby chose that moment to start crying breaking the spell and both Angela and Booth looked on in awe as Brennan picked up the infant and quickly quietened him down, rocking him gently and singing softly to him. Her face took on a radiance that Booth had never seen before and he was blown away by how beautiful she looked cradling a child in her arms.

"She's going to be a natural at this" Booth whispered to Angela as they both watched her with the baby.

"Yes but I think you are going to have to convince her of that, she doesn't seem to see what we see" Angela warned him. She knew her best friend and knew of the fears she held about being a good mother to her child.

When they got home from lunch Brennan was exhausted. Her energy levels were still quite low and she knew she still had a few weeks of feeling like this before her energy levels returned. Booth ushered her off to bed for a nap not surprised when she didn't fight him and he spent the afternoon hanging out with his son and discussing plans for a camping trip when Bones was a little further on in her pregnancy so she'd have the energy to stay up with them by the camp fire.

When Brennan awoke from her nap she and Parker spent the afternoon going through the book she'd bought him on pregnancy. He was completely fascinated by the whole process and a little worried for Brennan when they discussed labour and birth. He hadn't thought about the fact that she would have to go through a lot of pain when the baby was being born.

"Are you scared Bones?" Parker asked after they finished the chapter on birth. He was, he couldn't imagine her being able to do what the book said she'd have to do in order to get the baby out.

"A little, but I'll have your Dad with me, I'm sure he'll be an excellent coach" Brennan said smiling up at Booth who was walking in with a tray with snacks.

"To be honest buddy I'm a little scared to, I was scared when you were born, its not easy to give birth, but Bones will have the best care and she'll have a doctor with her who will make sure she and the baby are okay" Booth said glancing over at Brennan who was frowning and biting the bottom of her lip.

"Actually Booth, I was hoping I could have the baby at home, I don't want to have the baby in a hospital, they are full of bacteria and I think I'd be more comfortable at home" Brennan told Booth still biting her lip knowing that Booth was going to object to her request.

"We'll table that discussion for another time I think, now buddy do you want to watch a movie before dinner?" Booth said quickly changing the subject, trying not to think about Bones wish to have the baby at home. Of course she wanted to have the baby at home, why did he think she'd ever do anything, even having a baby normally.

He waited while Parker chose a movie and then set it up for him and then glanced over at Bones who looked as preoccupied as he felt. This was going to be a big discussion he realised, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He had a feeling that it was something that wouldn't be resolved until she was actually in labour. Thinking about where she'd have the baby made him realise that they really had a lot of things to discuss before the baby came. He knew they still had quite a bit of time, but knowing Bones the way he did, he knew she'd want to research absolutely everything they discussed and all the decisions they'd make in regards to this pregnancy and their life as a family.

The rest of the weekend went fairly smoothly and Parker was sad to leave them when the time came for Booth to take him back to his mum's house. Brennan decided to come with them even though she was pretty tired and could have used the nap and time to herself. She wanted a chance to discuss with Rebecca the things she'd told Parker she would about him spending more time with them and buying him a laptop he could use Skype on. She had decided she'd rather speak to Rebecca about it in person than on the phone.

They arrived at Rebecca's house in the late afternoon due to Parker dragging his feet in getting ready to leave.

"Hey Parks, it's always great to have you home" Rebecca exclaimed pulling him into a hug as he walked reluctantly into the house. Sensing his lack of enthusiasm she looked over at Booth to see if something had happened while Parker had been at their place.

"Bec, any chance we can have a talk?" Booth asked and ushered Parker up to his room giving him a quick hug and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.

"Sure, is everything okay?" Rebecca asked looking at her ex and his partner warily. They both looked nervous, which was something she didn't see in either of them very often.

"Ah, yes everything is good, we told Parker about the baby this weekend, as I said we would" Booth told Rebecca, reaching over and grabbing Bones hand and giving it a little squeeze.

"Was he upset?" Rebecca asked, wondering if that was the reason they were both so nervous.

"A little, he was concerned that he would miss out on a lot only being able to be at my place once every second weekend, especially after the baby is born" Booth told her watching her to see her reaction.

"I was thinking about that this weekend, I know how curious Parker is and he is going to want to be involved especially when the baby starts moving and he can see that there is an actual baby in there" Rebecca told them smiling as she thought of her son getting excited about his sibling. Although it saddened her a little, that she'd been unable to give him this, she wanted her son to be able to be a big brother as best as he could.

" I'd be happy for you to have him one night on your alternative weekend and a night or two during the week once Temperance is in her second trimester and feeling better and regaining her energy levels" Rebecca told them smiling as Booth's face lit up and he jumped up and crushed her in an enthusiastic hug.

"Thank you so much Bec, I know that this will mean a lot to Parker, and us" Booth said and then looked over at Brennan and motioned for her to make her suggestion.

"Yes thank you Rebecca, I would like to allow Parker to be as involved in this pregnancy as he can be, so that he will be able to bond with the baby, in fact I have a suggestion or a request I'd like to make" Brennan said as she stopped to think for a second to make sure she worded her request as well as she could.

"As Parker won't be able to be with us every day to experience all of the changes that will be happening in my body due to the pregnancy, I would like to purchase Parker a laptop and install Skype on it so that Parker can video call us any time he wants to talk or if he wants to see the baby once I am further along in the pregnancy" Brennan told Rebecca steeling herself for her reaction.

"That's very generous of you Temperance, I've been trying to decide whether to get Parker a laptop for quite some time, I know it would help with his studies at school, so how about this, you and I go halves in the laptop and that way we can get him a really good one" Rebecca said smiling at the relief on Temperance's face.

"I'd like that very much, perhaps we could make a day out of it and go out for lunch?" Brennan asked shyly. She wanted to get to know Rebecca better now that she was dating Booth and having his child. For better or worse Rebecca was a part of Booth's life and she was Parker's mother and she felt it was time that they got to know each other better.

"Sounds like a plan, should I get Parker so we can tell him the good news?" Rebecca asked them smiling as they smiled at her. She had a feeling that this new baby was going to change everything, but for the better. She found she was actually looking forward to getting to know Temperance, even though she'd had no desire to in the past. She'd always thought that Seeley was an idiot for not putting the moves on Temperance years ago, she knew he'd been interested in her for quite some time and that conversation she'd had with Temperance about Booth's ability as a father way back when showed that Temperance had been interested for quite a long time also, so stubborn these two were. It was so good to see Seeley finally happy and in love. As much as they butted heads about the raising of their son, she'd only ever wanted him to be happy and she was glad to see he finally was.

Parker was overjoyed when they told him of their agreement. Even the news that it wouldn't be starting until Brennan was in her second trimester didn't dampen his enthusiasm. He knew from reading the book that they only had a few more weeks until then and he knew he could wait. He couldn't wait until the baby was big enough that he could feel it kicking from the outside of Bones tummy, he wondered what it would feel like and was even more curious about how it would feel for Bones.

Both Booth and Brennan were a little saddened as they usually were when they left Parker after their weekend with him, although they were a little less saddened this time because they knew in just a few weeks they would get more time with him.

"You did so well in there Bones, thank you for being so wonderful to my son, we are both very lucky to have you in our lives" Booth told her kissing her gently before starting the car for their journey home.

"You're welcome Booth, I feel just as lucky to have you both in my life" Brennan told him deepening the kiss a little before succumbing to the yawn she'd been holding back for quite some time. She was exhausted and the only thing she felt like at that moment was sleep.

"Let's get you home so you can take a nap" Booth said as they began their drive home. It was only a short drive about fifteen minutes at most but Brennan was already asleep by the time he pulled into his parking spot. He contemplated carrying her into the building but wasn't willing to risk her wrath if she woke up mid way through their journey up to his apartment.

"Bones, we're home" Booth said gently shaking her to wake her. She was a little out of it, but managed to make it up to his apartment before he directed her straight to their bedroom and into bed. She was asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow and he smiled at her peaceful face as she slept.

Booth laid there watching her sleep for a while his thoughts turning back to their short conversation on where she'd like to have the baby. As much as he knew that giving birth would be all about her, she was the one going through the pain to bring their child into the world, the fierce protective side of him just couldn't get behind the idea of allowing her to give birth at home without a doctor and machines around. He couldn't get past the thought that if anything went wrong they'd have to wait for an ambulance to arrive before she'd get the kind of medical attention she'd need.

He knew that they were going to have different ideas on how to do a lot of things when it came to this pregnancy and raising their child. There was so much they needed to think about especially as she got further along in the pregnancy. He knew he wouldn't be able to talk her into taking off too much time before the baby came, and he also knew she'd want to participate actively in cases right up until she was due to give birth, but they had to come to a compromise on some things, because he did not want her pursuing criminals whilst heavily pregnant. He knew that her centre of gravity would shift not long after she was in her second trimester, and that would make her more vulnerable in dangerous situations as she'd become less agile as the pregnancy progressed. He just hoped she would be willing to compromise and talk things through rather than dismissing his concerns completely.

He watched her sleep for a few more minutes and then checked the time and decided to get a start on dinner. She'd not eaten very much today, her appetite had been decreased due to the persistent nausea she was experiencing so he was hoping she'd be pretty hungry when she woke up. Although he knew this was a normal part of pregnancy he was longing for her to pass the twelve week mark so that she would hopefully be over the morning sickness.

The next few weeks flew by as they had case after case come in. Brennan was frustrated by her body's frequent need to sleep which hampered the amount of time she spent on cases. It didn't stop her from being an active part of solving the crimes, but she felt that they would have solved them a lot quicker if she didn't need to keep taking naps during the day due to her body's flagging energy levels.

The last case was a particularly difficult one for them, a seven year old girl had been found dumped in a ravine wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag. Overwhelmed with sadness and hormones Brennan had been unable to complete the preliminary examination and had struggled throughout the case to keep her emotions in check. By the time they had discovered who had murdered the little girl and how, she was exhausted and had requested a few days leave from Cam. Both Booth and Cam had been extremely surprised at her request but had supported it completely. The FBI still didn't know about the baby or their relationship and they were planning to keep it that way until Brennan had made it to twelve weeks. Brennan had told Booth that the risk of miscarriage dropped dramatically after the twelve week mark.

"You okay Bones?" Booth asked as they lay in bed the night after they solved the case.

"I guess, I've never had as much trouble controlling my emotions as I did in this case, and I'm not even at the stage in pregnancy where my hormones will affect me the most" Brennan said, frustrated with her inability to control her emotions. As happy as she was to be pregnant with Booth's baby, there were some parts of pregnancy she could already do without.

"I don't think it's always going to be this difficult Bones, I think this one was a tough one because it was a child and we are having a child, child cases always affect me more than any other cases" Booth told her, hoping if he spoke about his feelings on this subject that she'd realise it was okay to have difficulty compartmentalising her feelings on cases like this.

"She trusted the person who killed her, and they betrayed her and then took her life, it's just not right a child should not have to suffer how that little girl did" Brennan said as tears formed in her eyes again as she thought of the injuries the child had suffered. She couldn't imagine their child ever going through anything like that.

"Unfortunately Bones that does happen, and when our child is old enough to be babysat, we are going to ensure that we know the babysitter very well and trust them completely, you don't have to worry about something like this happening to our child, because we aren't going to let that happen" Booth told her taking her into his arms as she lost her battle with her emotions again.

"I'm twelve weeks pregnant, finally" She said, changing the subject once she'd calmed down. She needed something positive to concentrate on and organising to tell everyone at work and the FBI about their baby was something good to concentrate on.

"Yes you are and I have to say you are beginning to get that pregnancy glow, you look like you are feeling much better now" Booth said as he stroked a finger down the side of her face and brought her lips to his for a gentle kiss.

"I am mercifully, the nausea has finally gone, although due to the case my energy levels are still pretty low" Brennan told him as she pulled him back in for another kiss.

"I'm proud of you Bones, for asking Cam for time off, you kind of surprised me" Booth admitted, hoping she wouldn't take offence to what he'd said.

"Thank you Booth, I'm trying to anticipate my body's needs better, and I know that right now I just need a few days to sleep, relax and try and recuperate, so that I don't run myself down, I know I need to think of the baby now rather than just what I want to do" Brennan told him as she kissed him again. She was too tired to actually initiate anything intimate between them, but she always enjoyed kissing him especially when it wasn't leading to sex.

"Speaking of rest, how about we take a nap and then I'll order us some dinner, run you a bath and then we can chill out in front of the television for the rest of the night, maybe have a John Wayne marathon" Booth suggested as she stroked her face again, knowing it would make her sleepy.

"Sounds perfect" Brennan muttered sleepily as the effect of his touch relaxed her even further. Within a few minutes she was sound asleep and Booth joined her not long after, curling himself around her body and placing his hand on her abdomen feeling the slight swell of her abdomen where their baby grew.

_Leaving it there. Next up telling the FBI and the rest of their co-workers that didn't know about the baby. Will the FBI continue to allow them to work together.. and maybe a cute Skype conversation between Brennan and Parker._


End file.
